After years of waiting for the next entry in the DnD RRG series, Baldur’s Gate 3 has finally arrived, and it is everything and more.
If you grew up in the nineties, you are most likely familiar with the fantasy tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons, or DnD for short. The tabletop game has seen a resurgence in recent years, and with it comes the revival of its spin-off IPs. One of them is the Baldur’s Gate video game series, which has been dormant for well over two decades until now.
For those unfamiliar with turn-based tactical RPG games, Baldur’s Gate was a series of CRPGs first developed by Bioware in 1998. The first game was a huge success, and two years later, a sequel was released, which fared even better than the first game.
Now, with how successful the games are, you would think a studio would put more time and effort into developing a third game, but sadly, Bioware thought otherwise and decided to put their focus on developing their own dark fantasy game, Dragon Age: Origins.
Despite going dormant, the series was far from lost, and they were even remade in 2012 by Atari using the enchanted version of the Infinity Engine. Now, as exciting as these remakes were, there were still no Baldur’s Gate 3, and with Bioware showing no interest in bringing back the series, that’s when Larian Studios came in.
Of course, Larian Studios is the mastermind behind the Divinity: Original Sin series, a tactical RPG prequel spin-off of the original Divinity series. Swen Vicke formed Larian Studios in 1996. The studio is based in Ghent, Belgium, and has a reputation for making excellent strategy RPGs.
So when it was announced that the studio would be working on the next Baldur’s Gate game, it was very much received with high praise and celebration from fans of both DnD and Baldur’s Gate and even fans of Divinity: Original Sin. After six years, we finally had the long-awaited Baldur’s Gate 3, and it was well worth the wait.
Our story begins where most stories begin: on a giant alien-looking biomechanical tentacle brain ship, also known as a Nautiloid. Our hero has been kidnapped by an evil mind flayer who intends to use our brains as a living nursery for a mind flayer tadpole. After a cinematic straight out of the Alien franchise, a mysterious voice asks us, “Who are you?” This is where we get into everyone’s favorite RPG feature: character creation.
Now, Baldur’s Gate 3’s character customization isn’t as diverse or as extensive as your regular DnD customization, but what it does offer is incredibly versatile. You will have the option to choose between the different races, and these are Human, Elf, Drow, Gnome, Dwarf, Tiefling, Half-Elf, Githyanki, Halfling, Half-orc, and Dragonborn. If you think that’s impressive, these races come with their sub-races for even more roleplay potential.
Aside from choosing your race, you will also get to choose your class. The game has over 12 different classes and over 46 subclasses in total. That’s not even mentioning the fact that you can multiclass, meaning that yes, you can have a half-drow that is a barbarian druid that can turn into cheese. Yes, you can turn it into cheese.
Each of these classes has its own set of abilities. Before you set off on your merry adventures slaying goblins and flirting with dragons, you will first need to decide what abilities your character starts out with. This can seem daunting at first, especially with the wide variety that is offered to you, but the best advice that could be given to new players is to experiment.
And if you’re unhappy with what you have, you can always change your current move set the next time you level up. However, do keep in mind that each time you level up, depending on your class, you will unlock even more fun and powerful abilities.
However, if creating your character sounds too complicated and daunting, you can always just choose an original character. These characters will also appear throughout the story as potential members.
This mechanic was previously seen in Larian’s previous title, Divinity: Original Sin II. It is actually quite convenient, especially for players who don’t care much for character creation and just want to jump straight into the gameplay.
Your potential party members are probably one of the biggest highlights of Baldur’s Gate 3. You see, you will need to form a relationship with them, similar to how it was done in the Dragon Age games. Arguably, in Baldur’s Gate 3, the relationship system is handled much better, as depending on your character’s background, class, and previous actions, you will get different dialogue options.
These options can either help you gain approval or disapproval from your party members. Do keep in mind that many of your companions come from different strokes of life and have their personal goals and ambitions, meaning that they can and will butt heads, so it’s up to you to maintain the balance… Or you can just side with the character you like to flirt with the most.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a DnD game if you couldn’t flirt with the many charming bachelors and bachelorettes that will join your party. From a handsome and witty wizard to a towering Amazon Tiefling, there is probably something for everyone.
While romancing a character doesn’t affect gameplay, it does let players express themselves through the characters they play, and it shows that these characters have a lot more dimensions, unlike the average game character.
Speaking of gameplay, let’s move into combat. Combat in Baldur’s Gate 3 is, as you would expect, turn-based and tactical. It should be noted that when you’re exploring the overworld, you can freely roam as you like, but the second you encounter an enemy, your camera will change to a top-down perspective. Combat requires you to position and move your characters around the field so that they are in advantageous positions.
This allows them to deal with the most damage or have their enemies in their line of sight. However, plan your moves carefully as your character has limited movement distance, which also acts as an energy bar. If your energy bar is depleted, then you won’t be able to attack if you’re melee. Meanwhile, ranged and spellcasters run on actions.
Managing your energy isn’t the only thing you will need to worry about, as tough terrain will also slow your character down, and you will also need to watch out for hazards such as crumbling bridges or traps set by enemy units. Another thing you need to manage is your ability cooldowns. It’s all good that you have a Magic Missile or Rage, but if you’ve wasted them, then they’re gone until you make it to camp.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a phenomenal game, both with its visual and sound design. The game looks gorgeous, and each environment you will encounter looks just as visually distinct from one another, but each one is equally as beautiful and memorable. The same can be said with the sound design in Baldur’s Gate 3, which is just as gorgeous as the visuals.
Hits and attacks sound impactful and punchy, the sound effects are crisp and clean, and the voice acting is incredibly well done. The voice actors have truly done an outstanding job of making these characters come alive.
That’s not to say the game is entirely perfect. Many of the animations do come across as stiff, but considering that the game was made by a small studio through crowdfunding, it’s easily forgivable.
Overall, Baldur’s Gate 3 was well worth the wait. The game truly captures the beauty and insanity of DnD and perfectly combines it with the gameplay we have come to expect from the series.
If you’ve played the first two games, then playing Baldur’s Gate 3 will feel like you’re seeing an old friend, one that has grown greater and better… and slightly more sexually inclined. Baldur’s Gate 3 is very much worth your time.
