Highlights
- Baldur's Gate 3 was initially in the top 10 of highest-rated games but has dropped to the 30th spot due to recent reviews, although all critic reviews have been positive.
- The PS5 version of Baldur's Gate 3, launching on September 6, has the potential to bring the game back to the top 10 if it receives enough positive reviews.
- Being in the top 30 highest-rated games is still a significant achievement for Baldur's Gate 3, and the franchise as a whole has a history of critical acclaim.
Baldur's Gate 3 has dropped out of the top 10 highest-rated games of all time list. Even so, Baldur's Gate 3 from Larian Studios has been a massive success and is already being considered a landmark release for video games. It's become the highest-rated new game of 2023, beating Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and at one point, it was even in the top 10 highest-rated games of all time.
For a minute there, Baldur's Gate 3 was actually climbing up the top 10 list, initially coming in at the number nine position before jumping ahead of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 to take seventh place. Unfortunately, more recent Baldur's Gate 3 reviews have caused the game's overall score to go from a 97 overall average rating to 96.
Because of this, Baldur's Gate 3 is now in the number 30 spot on Metacritic's highest-rated games of all time list, counting duplicate entries. It finds itself sandwiched between Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Resident Evil 4, two games many point to as two of the best the industry has ever seen, so it's not like Baldur's Gate 3 has gotten any negative reviews. In fact, 100% of the critic reviews for Baldur's Gate 3 have been positive, though some publications gave it 9/10 instead of 10/10. For those curious, the top 10 highest-rated games are once again The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Grand Theft Auto 4, SoulCalibur, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto 5, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild now that Baldur's Gate 3 has lost its spot.
But while the PC version of Baldur's Gate 3 has dropped out of the top 10, there's still a chance that a version of the game could crack the top 10 again. The PS5 version of Baldur's Gate 3 is set to launch on September 6, and because of the way Metacritic categorizes games, it will be treated as a completely separate entity from the PC version. If Baldur's Gate 3 on PS5 earns enough positive reviews, so it could potentially return the game to the top 10 highest-rated games of all time list. And if that fails, Larian will have a third chance with the Xbox version of Baldur's Gate 3, though that's currently without a release date.
While the top 10 is more prestigious, Baldur's Gate 3 being in the top 30 highest-rated games of all time is still an incredible accomplishment. The Baldur's Gate franchise in general has been one mega hit after another, with Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn finding itself in the top 100. Baldur's Gate 1 earned near-universal critical acclaim at the time of its original release as well, making the Baldur's Gate trilogy one of the highest-rated trilogy of games of all time.
Baldur's Gate 3 is out now for PC with a PS5 version coming September 6 and an Xbox version also in development.
Source: Metacritic
