Highlights
- Baldur's Gate 3 sets a new standard for CRPGs with its immense scale, polished writing, and player freedom, making it highly acclaimed by fans.
- The game prioritizes story and characters, offering a narrative-rich experience with memorable side quests and engaging interactions with companions.
- The turn-based combat of Baldur's Gate 3 distinguishes it from other RPGs, requiring strategic thinking, positioning, and ability management for success.
It's no question that Baldur's Gate 3 has been a runaway success since it released for PC on August 3, and a PS5 version will be launching on September 6, bringing it to a wider audience. With so much buzz being made about the game's immense scale, polished writing, and player freedom, many console owners are itching to get their hands on it. But it's worth knowing a bit about Baldur's Gate 3 before grabbing it on PlayStation.
In the eyes of countless fans, Baldur's Gate 3 has set a new standard for CRPGs. The breadth of the game, in terms of both map size and the range of different decisions available to the player, is something that most other open-world titles simply can't compete with. None of Baldur's Gate 3's content feels like filler, either, and every side quest and character interaction is memorable, creative, and consistently engaging. However, it's also a game that eschews several of the most popular trends of the AAA genre, and it's worth understanding just how different it is before jumping into it.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a Slower, Story-Focused Game
One of the most important things to know about Baldur's Gate 3 is that it is a game that puts a premium on story and characters. BG3 isn't a game you can speed through, as it's jam-packed with narrative content. This narrative content is present not only in the main story and the side quests, but in the player's interactions with their companions as well.
Similar to games like Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate 3 gives players a home base where they can relax, switch out party members, and, most importantly, nurture relationships with their companions. A sizable chunk of the game happens at this home base, as players can engage in lengthy, important conversations with NPCs and progress their individual storylines through large sections of dialog. Much of this type of content can also be found throughout the overworld, as players can interact with numerous friendly NPCs at various encampments, strongholds, and cities. Building relationships with BG3 characters, learning more about the game's lore, and experimenting with dialog options are all some of the best parts of the experience, but it is definitely a much less action-oriented style of gameplay than some players may be used to.
Baldur's Gate 3 is Turn-Based
As previously mentioned, Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't adhere to many contemporary, mainstream video game conventions. This can be seen in the slower pace and focus on story, but also in the game's combat. While most popular games offer more high-speed, real-time gameplay, Baldur's Gate 3's combat is turn-based, which forces players to take a more thoughtful and strategic approach. This sets BG3 apart from other RPGs, even ones that have similar fundamentals.
With that said, the turn-based combat of the game is different from that of something like Pokémon or classic Final Fantasy games. There is a heavy focus on positioning, movement, and managing the various spell and action charges for optimal use. Each race and class can have vastly different abilities, perks, and drawbacks, and how a player builds their party can end up having a major impact on how battles play out. Players won't be hacking and slashing, but instead leveraging support moves, heavy damage attacks, special abilities, and movement powers to gain the advantage in various conflicts. Understanding the BG3 action economy, status effects, and movement system is required for success in combat.
Those familiar with Dungeons and Dragons will likely find Baldur's Gate 3 quite familiar on both the narrative and combat fronts. For others, though, it might seem like a wildly different experience from other popular RPG series like Fallout or The Witcher. However, the things that set Baldur's Gate 3 apart are also what make it so special, and anyone with an interest in RPGs should give it a shot.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available for PC and will launch on PlayStation 5 on September 6, 2023. An Xbox Series X|S version is in development.
