I think the first moment I realized just how magical Baldur's Gate 3 can be was when I finished rescuing a Druid, helping to stop an impending attack on a nearby Druid Grove. I had originally tried to deceive my way through the Goblin camp, tricking the residents that I was truly one of them. However, taking the Druid's lead, I ended up slaughtering all the inhabitants.
Once the last Goblin inside the ruined temple they had taken up residence was run through, I stepped outside, ready to head back to the grove and receive my reward. Immediately upon stepping out the front door, I was confronted with the entire Goblin army I had forgotten about, rolling for initiative.
It was an "Oh, S___" moment for sure, and one that I was laughing wildly at, as I tried to fight my way through the swathes of enemies, only to find myself reloading the save and pondering what to do next.
Baldur's Gate 3 finally launches out of early access today, hitting PC a full month earlier than its initial release date. While PlayStation 5 fans are left waiting until September 6th (and Xbox players aren't even sure they'll be getting the huge RPG drop on their platform), this is a day I've circled for a month now.
Baldur's Gate is a series that is near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a PC gamer, it's a franchise I played a ton of as a teenager. I got Baldur's Gate 2: Shadow of Amn for my 14th birthday, I was so stoked to jump into the world of Faerun, having just played a Dungeons and Dragons campaign with my friends in our various garages. It opened up a world of cRPGs that I never fell out of love with.
Baldur's Gate 3 takes place around a century after the previous entry in the series and fits into the timeline of campaign modules Wizards of the Coast has released over the years, fitting snugly right after the Descent into Avernus module.
If you've played one of developer Larian Studios' Divinity: Original Sin titles (which, if you haven't, you totally should), you're going to be familiar with how Baldur's Gate 3 looks and plays. It's a beautiful game that has improved so much throughout the early access period. Character models are exceptional, brimming with details from the curls of Astarion's hair down to the individual pores on Lae'Zel's skin.
The world around each character is breathtaking at times to behold, teeming with life and activity at every turn of the camera. I really appreciate the level of detail that Larian has poured into building the world - it's so enticing to go and explore. And Baldur's Gate 3 rewards that exploration with plenty of treasure and interesting pit stops along the way.
Gather Your Party To Venture Forth
Baldur's Gate 3's character creator is much expanded compared to Early Access. With more options for visual additions to your character, such as horn customization for Tieflings to more hair options, there's more variety when crafting your unique character. Additionally, Baldur's Gate 3 allows for sub-classes, adding quite a few that were missing from early access, as well as the new Monk class at launch, giving even more options to players as you create the avatar to quest with for the next hundred or so hours.
Naturally, Baldur's Gate 3 also follows the Larian standard of Origin characters. These are pre-made characters with built backstories, interactions and more that you can play instead of a blank canvas new character should you choose. These are the various party members you can bring along on your own journey, from the Githyanki Fighter Lae'Zel to the swashbuckling Warlock Wyll.
Personally, I want to play out my own D&D character's journey through the Sword Coast, so I crafted my Drow Rogue Eld, though I can see myself playing through the RPG again later on as an Origin character to get even more story should the urge arise. Then again, because Baldur's Gate 3's save system saves your games based on your active player character, it's easier than ever to play multiple games simultaneously, not mixing up any of your saves.
I've played Dungeons and Dragons off and on since I was a teenager, but I'd be lying to you if I said I was a 5th Edition expert. I grew up in the Advanced 2.5E days where we were calculating THAC0 (because who doesn't want to do math while playing a role playing game?). But Baldur's Gate 3 takes 5th Edition and makes it pretty easy to understand - which is great for newer players, or those who are coming back to the tabletop staple. Personally, a few years ago, I used BG3 as a way to help get back into D&D and prep for my own campaign, which I ran last year with some friends.
In character creation, Baldur's Gate 3 does much of the heavy lifting for you, calculating the standard array that best suits your chosen class, helping to pick skills and more that best suit your class and character background - but it still lets you make the final decision here. I wanted a little bit more Dexterity with my Rogue, taking a point away from Intelligence to give myself 18 Dex to start with (now 20 with the Attribute enhancement I grabbed at level 4).
Origin characters can also have their classes changed, too - though keep in mind they have a prewritten story. So if you take the Warlock out of Gale, he's still going to think he's a Warlock when story beats come up. But if you don't need a Warlock but instead want a Conjuration Wizard running around with you, Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to make that choice.
Rolling The Dice
Baldur's Gate 3 also translates the gameplay of D&D 5E exceptionally well. The Divnity series was already well known for being an incredibly deep RPG with overlapping systems, tons of nuance and tactical strategy to learn, as well as some incredible emergent moments. I'll never forget Shank finding a way, against all odds, to light us on fire every single time we played the RPG.
Baldur's Gate 3 feels like a more refined version of Divinity's gameplay, with all of the things you can do in D&D faithfully recreated here. Running around the world will have passive dice rolls hitting the game board at any moment, allowing you to detect that nearby trap on a passed Survival check, or learn more about a nearby ruined statue with Arcana. Perception is clutch when finding treasure or hidden objects, and I love the fact that you can fail and BG3, like any good DM, doesn't let you retry these rolls.
Actions such as jump, shove, dash, hide - all are present and give some great options while exploring the world, or facing off against enemies in combat. Shoving Drow off the edge of a cliff in the Underdark never got old, nor did positioning my party around the scaffolding in a room to get the jump on a group of Goblins all trying to gear up for their next assault to do the Absolute's bidding.
Combat might be the thing that makes Baldur's Gate 3 feel most like a game of D&D. Rolling for initiative is done at the start of every combat, and unlike the previous titles in the series, BG3 is turn-based like the tabletop.
I actually really appreciate this change as it feels more like a game of D&D rather than a video game doing its best D&D cosplay. I loved those early Baldur's Gate games and feel like they should be played (especially if you're still waiting on the PlayStation 5 version in September), but the combat could become a bit too much to keep track of, especially when you had a full party of 6 characters.
Each turn sees a character move, take an action, and a bonus action if they can. Actions can be anything from a Rogue's Sneak Attack to dashing across a battlefield to get into a better position for the next turn. Positioning, spacing, and the environment around each character on screen matters tremendously as well. If you're firing your bow down onto an unsuspecting Goblin, the high ground is going to give you a boost, while flanking your opponent with two characters gives you advantage on dice rolls.
Using the environment can also mean lighting a pool of grease on fire under an enemy to incinerate them, or electrifying a pool of water (or blood) at someone's feet. It loved being able to fire off a fire arrow at a group of enemies near a firewine barrel, watching them all explode and turn to a charring wreck in the aftermath.
Slinging spells as a Warlock also feels incredibly impactful. Eldritch Blast is used so many time by Gale and Wyll when they are in my party that I'm pretty sure they've forgotten all their other spells. Shadowheart's affinity for creating illusions as well has gotten be out of quite a few pinches, such as when an army of unpetrified Drow warriors made for the illusions, allowing me a quick ranged sneak attack with Eld as I popped out of hiding.
However, the dice rolls don't stop when the weapons are put away.
Outside of combat, the dice rolls themselves create moments of tension just like they do when sitting around a table with my friends. I remember the very first dice roll in Baldur's Gate 3 for me: an investigation check. I failed. Miserably, setting myself up to be blown up a bit when the vat of Mind Flayer tadpoles blew up in my face.
These rolls can have hilarious outcomes if you do well, or poor ones based on the roll of the dice. Inspiration bonuses allow for some re-rolls, but at times I just let the results play out, taking the win or loss in stride. One of these bit me in the butt, as I tried to disarm a few traps, only to see my party die when I failed miserably, triggering a giant explosion.
I absolutely love the freedom this offers as well from a roleplaying perspective. Dialogue options set you up for these rolls, meaning if you know you're not great at persuasion, but there is an option for deception, you can pick and choose how you want to proceed. I also adore that the consequences of each of these rolls don't feel life or death - most of the time, the trap notwithstanding. It adds to the overall tale, something I would find myself recounting to my partner, the person who got me back into D&D, later on in the evening with excitement. Too often these types of dice rolls are done under the hood in the game engine. Larian puts the dice back in the hands of where it belongs: the player. It's such a simple decision, but it adds so much to the overall gameplay of Baldur's Gate that I hope more D&D-fueled games do the same down the road.
The Road Goes Ever On
We've only just begun our journey, receiving our review copy just a few days ago. This is a long RPG, but we'll be doing intermittent review in progress updates throughout the month as we work our way through the world of Baldur's Gate 3. However, in the 20 hours I've put into the review build so far, this is shaping up to be one of the best games I've played in a long time. I've been pretty much hooked since the first moment, often losing track of time as I explore yet another corner or strike up a conversation with just one more NPC.
I have waited half my life for another Baldur's Gate game, and it's finally fully here. I can't wait to uncover more secrets in Larian's interpretation of Faerun.
