It's felt like Baldur's Gate 3 would be a hit for quite some time, but we didn't quite expect it to have such a colossal impact. The highly anticipated RPG isn't out on PS5 until next month, but PC reviews, impressions, and reviews-in-progress are painting a frankly ridiculous picture. Indeed, on its current trajectory, Baldur's Gate 3 is going to be counted among the greatest RPGs ever made.
So, just to make our wait for the game even harder here in the PlayStation Nation, we've gathered together a bunch of quotes from those who are already done with what is a seemingly epic adventure. For additional context, Baldur's Gate 3 has a staggering 97 on Metacritic at the time of writing, based on 37 critic reviews. It's currently the highest rated game of 2023 so far.
Here's hoping that the game lives up to the hype when it arrives on PS5 in early September. We will, of course, have our own PlayStation-focused review of Baldur's Gate 3 around that time.
TechRadar -
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a fine contender for one of the best video game RPGs ever made. It’s the most ambitious RPG out there, and the painstakingly accurate rendition of Dungeons & Dragons will delight fans. A must-play, even if some frustrations with D&D’s format might grate.
GamesRadar -
Baldur's Gate 3 is the most successful and authentic take on D&D in the tabletop franchise's 50-year history. Its complexity and size might be daunting for novices, but the breadth and depth of Baldur's Gate 3's world make this a once-in-a-generation achievement.
RPG Site - 10/10
Baldur’s Gate 3 carries forward the sort of gargantuan scope that only comes around in role-playing games a couple of times a generation, the scope that seems impossible to imagine a company successfully crafting in this age of ever-ballooning budgets and ever-increasing consumer demands.
Gamereactor UK - 10/10
If you like role-playing games, Baldur's Gate 3 is the highlight of the year and one of the best games in its genre in recent years.
The Guardian -
Baldur’s Gate 3, like its titular city, is a towering landmark of an RPG. Bustling with life, brimming with scope, and bursting with imagination.
PC Gamer - 97/100
Baldur's Gate 3 is an unrivalled RPG that will swallow your life whole.
Wccftech - 9.5/10
After years in development, Baldur's Gate 3 definitely exceeded all expectations, and in the best possible way.
IGN - Review-in-Progress
On the whole, I really am loving Baldur's Gate 3 so far. It definitely has some blemishes, from minor bugs to a combat system that I don't exactly adore at lower levels. But I’ve been waiting 14 years for another alignment of the planets like Dragon Age: Origins, when an old-school CRPG got a big enough budget to look like a high quality animated movie – but the design hadn't been completely steered in the wrong direction in a misguided attempt to reach a different market like the later two Dragon Ages. This is the closest anyone has ever come to recapturing that magic.
CohhCarnage - Mid-Playthrough Thoughts
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the best games I have ever played [...] this game, so far, has done almost everything right for me.
Comments 112
I’m actually not getting quite warm with CRPGs. I couldn’t nicely get into divinity original sin 2.
But Baldurs Gate 3 has so far been amazing!
If Sony wants to catch up to Microsoft on the wrpgs front than this studio and cd projekt red would be good purchases.
Could this be the game that finally matches the genius of the witcher 3
Having regular cinematics and a proper DnD combat system are exciting me a lot. This sounds like it won't be as hard and time consuming as D:OS2's combat, which is a great game, but combat takes a long time and many tries. It also helps that I already know the rules.
The one down side of looking things up though, is that from EA there's whole bunch of wrong info out there.
Starfield comes first for me, but then I'll probably be all over this on the Christmas break.
Playing Disco Elysium reminded me how good CRPGs can be and it seems like BG3's even greater freedom and replayability make it an absolute must-play. Could see it getting GOTY
Starfield isn't doing it for me, I have no idea why as it should be right up my street. BG3 it is then lol.
That is some awkward axe grinding in the IGN excerpt. I know that this is not my type of game, but I’m starting to get swept away by the flood of praise that Baldur’s Gate 3 is receiving. I need to find something to buff my impulse control…
I’m glad that the review scores are being held back as it’s just an insanely huge game that reviewers really shouldn’t be pressured into burning themselves out trying to finish to churn out a review.
I am really hyped up for this, I've been going through the original two on ps4 in preparation for this. Hopefully this game would be up their with the greats like Witcher 3 and baldurs gate 2.
With the I.P I expect an epic story that could pull you in for months, maybe years with the amount of replayabilty.
I'm still on the fence about getting it. That said this year in gaming is going to be one to remember.
Remember kids: The more people say something the more true it is!
Its from the same excellent people who made the 2 amazing divinity original sin games.so Baldur's gate 3 is going to be fantastic also.word up son
Well, @LiamCroft, let's hope you get a very long Christmas break! This game will take you a while... 😂
@Fiendish-Beaver I am planning on taking a fair bit of time off this year, so maybe!
I'm enjoying it but wouldn't say it's much better than DOS. Maybe I'm just not far enough in. Seems pretty similar, if anything.
@LiamCroft How can people trust Bethesda so much? How about Fallout 4? Fallout 76? And even Skyrim and Fallout 3.
Even if you love the watered down rpg experience these games offer there is no denying they all were a buggy mess even months after release.
@Amnesiac does anybody still take IGN serious these days?.
I'd almost forgotten try were still around
@species f3 and 4 were good games, skyrim is one the best games ever made.
Watered down rpg experience? more like one of the best rpgs to RP cuz you can do anything you want.
>they all were a buggy mess even months after release.
Played morrowind, f3, skyrim on PC on release and it worked fine
I've been saying for months now to anyone that will listen, and a fair few who wouldn't(!) that this game will be/is a masterpiece. Larian are the Developers of my all time favourite games, Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2, and so there was always little doubt in my mind that this game would be masterful. I've said it many times now, but not only will this game take home ALL of the Game of the Year Awards, but it will also set the standard for all future games. Reviewers will look at any other game and where they may have been tempted to give it a 10, will have to ask themselves whether it is as good as Baldur's Gate 3, and then concede that it isn't, and award it a 9 instead.
I know that for many, this isn't a game for them, but I would just say if you get a chance at a demo, then give it a go. It will draw you in. The hype was real because it was in the hands of players for 3 years whilst in Early Access, and therefore shaped by fans of the genre.
Larian are regarded as one of the best Developers for a reason, and Baldur's Gate 3 is their best game to date...
@Grimwood https://i.etsystatic.com/11368234/r/il/532aa1/1979128225/il_794xN.1979128225_flf3.jpg
@saffeqwe guess we gonna have to agree to disagree. To me those games are wide as an ocean, but deep as a puddle.
Im not trying to be old grandpa here, but i much more prefer morrowind and fallout 1&2.
Not for lack of trying but I don't get on well with CRPGs.
This game looks like it's something seriously special though 🤔And one of my friends worked on it so I feel obliged to dabble...
Nah, fomo is never a good reason to buy a game. I'll be happy with Armoured Core VI and MythForce. Still playing Tears of the Kingdom and Final Fantasy XVI too. Spidey 2, StellarBlade and Granblue Fantasy are on the way.
There's no time for more.
Edit: I'm 100% lying to myself and I will have this game by Christmas.
This has been a year of disappointment for me. FFXVI in particular is the disappointment of the century. But Pikmin 4 and baldurs gate 3 have made me so happy. I've been playing bg3 since 2020 so I knew it would be great and I'm glad to see it succeed like this. It's more final fantasy than FFXVI...
I may have to look into this. I just started by looking up CRPG b/c despite playing JRPG since FF7 in '97 I didn't know what it stood for.🤷
My kids are big into D&D, my 1 kid I'd argue is too much into it, w/ all of their friends, but it's never been for me. Well except the 80s cartoon which was epic. 😎
Guess I have a month to figure it out as I'm not a PC gamer.
I'll take it on release date.
@deathaxe this is why I'm excited for the game, despite being totally inexperienced with turn based combat and dice rolls.
I sometimes really want a game to just go "here's a giant world... good luck, and do some stuff if you like" like, I'm currently loving FF16, but there is nary a moment when it isn't pointed out with a big marker where you have to go next, even if it's to find someone you have no idea who they are, you just get told "its this person here, go" and its a linear game where you can't really just go off and do whatever.
And I do want to have to use me noggin sometimes, or make my own choices and mistakes, ala KCD, Elden Ring etc. And the timing is perfect for a game like this, as that's what I'm craving.
Plus games like this, it's super fun trying to push them to the limits, to see what is actually possible, and if the developers have thought of certain things.
@deathaxe ah, well the intestines of my victims will surely help with absailing 😅
Or the classic "everybody get naked, we need to make a rope ladder out of our underpants"
Joking aside, I'm guessing inventory is a huge part of the game too? With options to use things you've collected via dialogue options or commands?
@KaijuKaiser do you know this game is already out on windows, wich is microsoft main platform and basically 99% of pc gaming market?
Been playing since the original BG came out and this one is definitely the peak. My only gripe is that it feels a little close to Original Sin.
I’ve been geeking out on this game on PC so much I might have to get it again for ps5. So well done. Refreshing to play an rpg where I actually want to read everything.
@deathaxe I randomly picked up a boulder and tossed it. Found a book under it! Love this game
It will go down as one of the GOATs. Starfield creators are quaking in their boots.
Best game I've played since the Mass Effect Trilogy, and I didn't think I was even a CRPG person. I hope this game gets game of the year, because to me it's game of the decade. If you want a Bioware game on steroids, this is that.
@tselliot This might sound petty, but I really do love this game more than DOS2 just due to the camera and quality animations. I played DOS2 for 3 hours and noped out. I played BG3 all weekend though and lost track of time lol
Impossible for Starfield and BG3 to not be compared, and it sounds like BG3 will be the standard bearer based on the early reviews. Not an enviable position for Starfield, especially with many “vacant” planets and the unenviable comparisons to the early release of No Man’s Sky.
@deathaxe okay, cool 😄 I do hope there are options for using items, other than selling them. I believe you can pick up all kinds of weird stuff when looting haha
@lacerz They will be compared to some extent but they are completely different games/genres. I for one cannot wait for Starfield. To me it looks amazing. Have to finish Demon's Souls remake first though which looks incredible by the way on the PS5.
I want to jump in just so much coming out that I will have to get this later plus my first DnD game it will be a little intimidating
I could not be more excited for this. Especially as some of my pc mates are already playing and raving about it. That does bring up one of the dampeners for me though…the fact there’s no cross play with PC. Hopefully it’s something that gets added further down the line but I do appreciate it’s a big enough and difficult enough game to develop without adding stuff like that. cough split screen cough
@StrawberryTurtle Won’t change much IMO, it’s a PC game first and most will play it there.
A must play for me.
For those of us unwilling to pay thought the highly overpriced components barrier that is building an up-to-date gaming pc rig these days, it's awesome to be able to experience it on the ps5, even if it will have downgrades.
I’m enjoying it so far and I’m not a big rpg fan having no attention span - but I keep logging back in which generally says it’s pretty good
@GeeEssEff They have added cross saves between pc and ps5 in advance so I’m presuming cross play will be there (although it’s been temporarily paused due to a bug that they are working on)
Proper excited for this, Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077's add-on to get stuck into in the coming months. Good times ahead.
@Palleon Yeh I saw the cross saves and thought it’s a cool feature. I don’t have a decent gaming pc though (and probs won’t ever get one) so it’s unlikely to be something I will use personally unless I ever play it on Xbox as well.
I've heard it's
bearbare goodI have never played a turn-based game before outside of mobile nor have I played D&D formally, but this game keeps attracting my interest. For those that have played, do you think this is too overwhelming with D&D gameplay knowledge and choices for a newbie? I like RPGs in general, but have only mainly done western-style ones. I have also worried the turn-based will be boring over time, but others seem to indicate that is not their experience. Thanks.
@GeeEssEff But a good indicator of cross platform play
Also it works exceptionally well on the Steam Deck (with proton) which is surprising for such a good looking game - odd then that they can’t get it running on Xbox - unless it’s a contract thing? (I’ve no idea)
@deathaxe oh nice I hadn't looked at the rec/min specs, I had just noticed reviews on the highest end pcs / and settings were having some minor but frequent framerate instability. I basically based my assumption it would likely be downgraded mildly on that.
Hopefully its smooth sailing though, as I'm looking forward to this one.
@Palleon It's because of co-op. When in a co-op game, every player and character in their party can go off to any other part of the world and do whatever they want. Everyone exists in the same world, even if they aren't doing the same things and Larian are having a hard time getting that to run properly on Series S. But, because MS requires parity between Series S and X, they can't just release it until it works as advertised on both.
According to those scores Druid Bear Sex should become the norm in games from now on
I’ve pre-ordered it for a bargain price of £20.25 on PlayStation Turkey digital store.
I haven't been this engrossed by an WRPG since the golden years of Bioware. This game is a masterpiece.
@GeneJacket I've never heard this before, but this seems like the best possible way coop is implemented.
Man, after Diablo IV and Final Fantasy XVI, I could totally get into a third game this year of which I thought: 'This isn't anything for me.'
I'm a fan of the first two and a fan of the Divinity games so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this.
As I have been so excited for this game, I'm trying not to spoil the story yet I keep watching videos. I've resigned to watching videos but fast-forwarding dialog and just watching combat and traversal. I'm going to try and only watch act 1 as well. Hopefully I can hold off. Less than a month away!
@KaijuKaiser this looks much better than Starfield, which is like 18000 planets but nothing to do on them but wander around
I’m intrigued by this. Do I have to have played the others? I didn’t gel with the Witcher at all, is this a hard pass for me due to that?
@KaijuKaiser For me that's the great thing about this game. It will take me forever to beat it, but I plan on playing much like a D&D session. We get together once twice a month to play. As far as this game, I plan on playing more than that of course, but over time I'll add other games and this will just be played less frequently.
I'm definitely more Xbox than Sony these days, but this is getting my attention more than Starfield. Especially as it doesn't come with ridiculous amounts of hype, it just looks really really damn good! Can see myself playing this one first!
Preordered this one yesterday. All my friends on PC/Steamdeck are playing it and are so happy with it that I couldn’t not jump on it. I haven’t had a mp focused title that I got excited for in so long, but here we are! What a balancing act gaming will be this fall and winter.
Well it won’t be 97 anymore with EG predictable 4* review.
Got zero interest in this game im afraid.
And now another soon to be monstrously popular single player fantasy game and GOTY contender hot on the heels of Elden ring & TOTK. Sony are you listening? You have the studios and resources to read the room here but seem more interested in TV shows & teenage live services..
Edit: I know this is timed exclusive.. but not full 1st party exclusive.
Pumped for this. I really liked the Divinity Original Sin games though I wasn’t that good at them. Even then it was a really good time teleporting enemies to their death
I’d like to know how this game holds up in the final 1/4, as that’s where the OS games fall a bit flat. Very solid starts, though.
@Sequel tbf I half agree.
I have no problem with the TV shows and I'm eager to see what the Live Service stuff turns out like (Helldivers 2 looks like seriously good fun).
I genuinely think Sony are killing it in every other area in which I have an interest too, but there's a gap in their stable where a big, open ended single player fantasy RPG should be.
It's the only thing they're missing that I want from them.
@Amnesiac
Right?! Like who cares what you think of a Dragon Age? The last game DA this person liked was in 2009...time to move on from the grudge you hold over the franchise. Basically saying that BG3 is ALMOST good enough to help them forget about the last 10 years of disappointment from an entirely different studio.
Anyway...Thanks for the "review" guy.
With 30+ reviews, that 97% is looking a lot more solid than it previously did. Way to go, dev team.
I might end up playing this at some point after all, never found the opportunity to try out CRPGs and this sounds like the perfect introduction.
I hope for a physical release.
@KaijuKaiser I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Xbox delay is less to do with Series S “technical issues” and more to do with not wanting to go head-to-head with Starfield.
@somnambulance it currently doesn't have cross play, just cross progression as it stands.
Feels like I’ll never get back to Octopath 2! I still remember getting BG1 in the 90’s. So many CD’s! I’ve still got them and the huge manual. Really looking forward to this, the guys on RPGSite were raving about it
Oh look, an RPG that respects its fanbase and history while simultaneously creating a topnotch, quality game with deep mechanics that improve on past iterations. Wild idea.
I plan to be playing this from the 2nd Sept and Starfield from the 1st. I'll also take a nice side helping of Eternights and Robocop towards the end of the month. I'll even throw in some FC 24 and try out that new Truck Driver game.
I basically decided to take the whole of Sept off for holiday - I think I will need it for this many games
@Jaz007 Well, darn it all, I suppose. Who needs friends?
I’ll have to play the game with the wife and maybe crossplay will get added down the line. This may encourage me to be more invested in Starfield early on.
@Burnish1619 in my top 10 all time Disco, rarely am I dejected when a game concludes. I long to go to Jamrock in a sequel, but that may not ever happen by the looks of it
A very, very overrated game.
But also paradoxically a very, very good one. It has issues, quite a few. But it’s the first game since elden ring I’ve played for two weeks straight. I hope Larian continue to remain independent and brilliant.
@KaijuKaiser that crap with corporate-trendy teenagers robbing some vault. Forgot the name
@Shepherd_Tallon Yes! They could smash it with a big dark open world fantasy game, but in their epic 1st party style, the appetite for it is huge. I guess God of War Ragnarok kind of touches on that, but I think a new IP to rival upcoming Elder Scrolls + something deeper. They must be thinking about it at least. But they're making tons of $ and I'm just an armchair pundit.
Removed - unconstructive
@KaijuKaiser i have been tempted to build a killer PC rig again. Just don’t love all the troubleshooting headaches it use to cause. I have all 3 consoles at the moment and love just turning them on and they work. I am 250 hours in on Diablo 4 on Series X and for some reason i just want to play it on a PC even tho i think it’s perfect on console. I have a media room with a 65 inch Oled tv and it just really comfy up there, but downstairs in my office i have been tempted to splurge and get dual Oled monitors and a PC, or just save some extra money and get a secret lab setup with another PS5 and Series X. That way i could game on a chair and monitor while the wife and kid watch a movie in the Game/Media room.
@KaijuKaiser honestly believe it is more EG trying to be edgy.
No hogwarts review, both Zelda and BG3 getting 4/5 while being roundly praised as GOTY. FF16 getting 3/5.
They seem to like going for different scores to most, especially odd given it’s happened on 4 of the biggest releases of the year.
Redfall, universally panned was given a 3/5 one of the highest scoring out there.
In my opinion it's a 75 -80 at best, good but definitely not exceptional.
The combat is way to slow and dull at times (why can't I speed up enemy turns to X2 speed especially when I'm fighting massive mobs, watching each one move is so boring)
16 hours in and level 5 and the moment to moment gameplay and exploring doesn't feel appealing enough(maybe because I played monk and none of the armour I can wear and the clothes I can wear so far look bad)
It's selling point is its dialogue/choices and the character graphics look good.
With a lot of exclaimed games I can see the appeal even if it's not for me.(even ff16 and I hate that game)
But this game I can't understand the widespread 10/10 praise I dont see it I don't understand why people are in love with it.
I really tried, but I just couldn’t bring myself to play anymore maybe I’ll get back to it later, but right now it seems like a chore getting through it.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Eurogamer giving it 4/5 was tiresomely predictable, they are desperate to swim against the tide on anything. Yet they'll give obscure indie games where the dev more often than not knows someone on their staff 5/5's all day long.
Once all the reviews are in, theirs won't carry enough weight to move the average score at all; it'll just be a footnote to remind everyone what a whack site they are these days.
First two are among my favourite games ever. Just need the cash for a new laptop before jumping in!
I consider it GOTY to be honest. For the depth and the dedication.
Baldur's Gate has always been top notch. I expected nothing less tbh.
@Gamer_Guy the only good thing on EG nowadays is DF
@Sequel I've been thinking the same thing tbh - They must be looking at what's going on with the likes of Zelda, BG and Elden Ring.
On top of that, next gen I'd like to just get two consoles if I can get away with it, and that will always be PlayStation and Nintendo.
Nothing against XBOX, it's just that the older I get the less time I have, and right now I only have Series X for whenever TES VI and Fable come out.
But if PlayStation cook up their own open world fantasy game, that might save me the need to keep up with TES at least.
@Nightcrawler71 surely they would set a release date a month after starfield if thats the case
@StrawberryTurtle how is it a time exclusive if a lot of people already finished or playing this game on pc?
@Americansamurai1 Make games not buy-out studios.
@Tr3mm0r would be nice, but it's cheaper and or easier to just buy them.
@Arisen FF has never been a CRPG
@Nightcrawler71 that’s exactly what I think. It runs on PCs far weaker than a Series S, not to mention the much weaker Steam Deck.
@Gamer_Guy @PsBoxSwitchOwner I wouldn't be so quick to castigate the reviewers.
One Disco Elysium review out of the hundreds out there, rated it average due to a game breaking oversight on a critical role. It was the eurogamer review. And do you know what's weird? It happened to me and absolutely ruined the experience. Disco Elysium is clearly fabulous but I can't dare replay, as playing the role of recovering alcoholic cop the way I wanted to, is broken. You can snag an auto win roll (which was placed in the game for this exact instance) but I had used it frivolously as I wasn't aware. Running around the map multiple times, clicking on everything, I must have spent 3-4 hours desperately trying to find a way through. I agreed with the eurogamer review.
I read the BG3 review, strangely, It has a few spelling mistakes and gramatical errors unlike their usual crew. Anyway, I strongly believe the major save error they encountered (and pointed out to larian) has compromised the final act of the playthrough. It's instances like this and the above mentioned Disco Elysium review, bugs and glitches do happen. In an 100 hour rpg it's soul destroying. The reality is larian have patched the issue, however the damage is done. And potentially top score across the aggregation sites.
@LightningLeader
It’ll be hard to do an apples to apples. Starfield will be on GamePass, so the sales numbers won’t be equitable, and as it’s “free” for subscribers, the active user count won’t be comparable either.
Eurogamer being Eurogamer have scored BG3 a 4/5, or an 80. Its lowest score yet.
@themcnoisy like I said to me it seems a bit of a coincidence that every major review by them differs.
I won’t lose sleep over it, reviews being a 3 or a 5 doesn’t really change what I like.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Regarding EG reviews I have to agree, there is too much of a pattern not to suspect some sort of encouraged contrarianism there. For smaller titles, it often feels like they'll hand out perfect scores just because it clicked, but then they'll go against the grain for nearly every AAA title that gets widely praised.
The quality of the writing is often still good, but it's tiresome to read one outlier review after the other.
@StrawberryTurtle it's weird to call something exclusive, yet console exclusive. I guess Sony's marketing department works good if people think they are getting special "exclusive" game 1 month after at least 1 million of people already played it. "console exclusive"
@saffeqwe If Sony had said 'exclusive' then you'd have a point, but in what way is the phrase 'console exclusive', ie exclusivity pertaining to consoles at this time, incorrect?
@Jettstyles
For those that have played, do you think this is too overwhelming with D&D gameplay knowledge and choices for a newbie?
Having played a ton on PC (and re-bought for PS5) I can tell you it is not overwhelming for a newbie. The game does a wonderful job of easing you into the game and explains everything you need to know in order to play. My wife has never played D&D (and not too many computer games) and loves playing BG3. In fact, I'm excited for this to come to PS5 so she can have the computer all to herself to play BG3, while I take up the sofa downstairs. If you are at all interested, I'd say jump in.
BG3 down to 96 now, with 47 reviews. I think it will end up around the 94/95 mark the same as the glorious Persona 5 Royal (PS4).
@Darylb88 it's only the 'edgy' tools at Eurogamer that caused that. Once they're all in it'll make no difference.
@StrawberryTurtle microsoft is having a blast with people playing it on windows on PC. More people switch to pc = more people buying game pass
@Gamer_Guy console exclusive is just a stupid term
@StrawberryTurtle 96% of steam users use windows.
> Never met a person who uses Game Pass on PC
well that's anecdotal
@StrawberryTurtle it any way people are moving to PC instead of sony. Not like sony is in danger right now but the trend is going.
> It's not anecdotal, it's my experience.
that's exactly what anecdotal means
@StrawberryTurtle yeah and switch sold 126m. You need to realize that xbox is not only a console but also windows. And you will realize that a huge game like ff16 barely gets 3m sold copies, while a niche game on PC gets almost 1m concurrent players
Removing Comments that are VALID: SO I say again:
LOL! Turn based = trash, find a different game....
It's a valid opinion. So quit saying it IS NOT Constructive, ya' twit...
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