Baldur’s Gate 3 Review - PlayForge (2024)

Baldur’s Gate 3 is an RPG game developed and published by Larian Studios in August 2023. Before that, it’s been in development since late 2016. And all the hard work and time spent on it has definitely paid off — it’s almost unanimously beloved and praised for its wonderful story, characters, and game mechanics.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is based on Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition rules and offers numerous choices at every step. The world is expansive and encourages exploration and creativity when it comes to solving different problems.

But despite all of that, I have to be honest — I almost quit. I was so overwhelmed by everything happening — all the characters, the spells and fighting, the quests. I thought I had to rush to get the tadpole out of my head. It didn’t help that I picked to be a druid, and that I set the difficulty to balanced. Let me tell you, “Balanced” was not for me. By the time I got to the goblin camp, I was so frustrated that I didn’t want to play anymore.

I was so disappointed — after months of watching everyone fall in love with Baldur’s Gate 3 and then buying it, I didn’t enjoy it at all.

But I took a break, left it alone for a few days and then — largely because I already bought it and felt it was a waste not to play — gave it another go. And let me tell you, the second time around I actually fell in love with Baldur’s Gate 3.

I created a new character — a bard this time, not a druid like on my first playthrough — set it to the lowest difficulty, and relaxed into it. Once I realized that there’s really no rush about the tadpoles and that I have plenty of time for everything (and let go of my completionist tendencies when it comes to quests), I started having so much fun.

Storyline

Baldur’s Gate 3 begins with your character waking up on a Nautiloid ship currently under siege by the Githyanki. You’ll see the ship passing the city of Baldur’s Gate and pick up random people. When they get to the ship, those people — just like your character — get infected by the tadpoles which are meant to turn everyone into Mind Flayers.

However, because the Githyanki have destroyed the ship, your character gets released and your mission is to get off it before it crashes. Along the way, you’ll meet Lae’zel, one of the Githyanki, and you’ll run into a trapped high half-elf named Shadowheart, who you’ll have a choice to save.

Once you land the ship on a new territory, you can meet up with other characters with the same condition (the tadpole) and together you’ll set off on an adventure to free yourself from this illness.

I’ll give you a big tip and a slight spoiler now: there’s no rush on the tadpole. It’s actually quite helpful sometimes. So, feel free to take on the side quests, talk to other characters, explore and just have fun with it.

Characters

One of the best and probably most beloved aspects of Baldur’s Gate 3 are its characters. Each one of them has a fully fleshed-out backstory and a strong personality that will clash or work well with others. Some are very easy to recruit, but some you might accidentally (or intentionally) kill.

• Lae’zel is a Githyanki fighter and the first character you’ll meet. She’ll be happy to work with you, but she also has a pretty aggressive personality and will want to steer you around as she pleases. Once you land with the nautiloid ship, you’ll lose her, and you can find her trapped in a cage by some bandits north of the nautiloid ship, closer to the Druid Grove. If you chose not to free her, she will eventually escape, and you’ll meet her again at the Mountain Pass.
• Shadowheart is a high half-elf cleric who you’ll also meet on the Nautiloid ship. She’s a bit of a goody-two-shoes, but also very cold and calculating. If you free her from the pod, you can easily find her and recruit her at the start of Act 1. If you leave her in the pod, she’ll just be waiting on the beach again. You can choose many fates for Shadowheart, but unless you fight her, she’ll keep appearing and be available for recruitment.
• Gale is a human wizard who you’ll find just outside of the nautiloid shipwreck, trapped in a rune circle. After you save him, you’ll be able to recruit him, and if you fight him, he’ll die and kill your entire party. If you just leave him there, he’ll go on his way. He’s easy-going and approves good deeds, but will need to be fed magical artifacts.
• Astarion is a high elf rogue (and a vampire, as you’ll find out). You’ll meet him outside of the nautiloid ship and he’ll either try to attack you or trick you depending on your answers. Either way, you’ll be able to easily recruit him there. If you don’t, he’ll just stay there until you clear Act 2 and can’t come back for him. He’s sneaky and calculating, appearing friendly in general. He approves deceit, mockery, selfish acts, etc. He disapproves of good deeds normally.
• Wyll is a human warlock and you’ll find him in the Druid Grove. He’s easily recruitable and will approve of all your good deeds, similarly to Gale. If you don’t recruit him, he’ll just appear later on for the camp celebration, where you can also recruit him. He wants to kill Karlach and will also appear after a long rest at the camp if you don’t recruit him immediately. He’s heroic and kindhearted.
• Karlach is a Zariel tiefling barbarian who you can recruit at The Risen Road. If you recruited Wyll previously, his companion quest will lead you to her. She loves helping innocent people and is fun to be around, with a playful personality.

These are the main origin companions, but there are also many others you can recruit. For example, you’ll be able to get Halsin as a traveling companion if you rescue him from the goblins (and obviously, not side with the goblins). I accidentally killed him, though, by blowing up a bridge while fighting Minthara, another potential companion. Minthara is really hard to recruit since you’re meant to kill her and you might not even know that she can be recruited. There’s also Minsc and Jaheira, both of whom will require a bit more work to recruit and it only works in specific scenarios.

You’ll also be able to recruit some temporary companions along the way and of course, you’ll be able to hire hirelings with your faithful Withers (I’m not sure what he is, really, but he always sits at the camp).

All of these characters come with personal quests and a host of other people whom you can interact with. In addition, you can talk to animals and dead people, and each one of them has a unique voice and often a great story.

Gameplay

Baldur’s Gate 3 has incredibly complex game mechanics where options are almost limitless. Because of that, it’s pretty hard to describe it in an all-encompassing way but I’ll give it my best shot.

Character Creator

The character creator you get in Baldur’s Gate is one of the most detailed I have ever seen. There’s very little limit to what you can do — from skin color to hair color and style, eye color, and more. You could spend hours just creating your own character.

If you don’t want to spend too much time on it, you can also randomize your look, race, and class and then change all of it later in the game at the mirror (in the camp). Do this especially if you’re not sure if you’ll like the game. Character customization can take ages, and you’ll quickly run out of the 2-hour limit Steam gives you before you can refund.

But if you really want to give it a go, I recommend spending some time on it. The graphics are incredible and you can create some really stunning characters here.

Another option is to play as an origin character (with the addition of the Dark Urge). I wouldn’t recommend this on the first playthrough since you’ll get much more out of the game as your own person.

Fighting

Baldur’s Gate 3 has turn-based fighting where everything is based on the roll of the dice. You won’t exactly see the dice most of the time, but your luck with shots will depend on them. At the beginning of each fight, all parties roll the dice and whoever gets the highest number plays first (again, this isn’t seen, other than to show you the order).

In one turn, you get one action point, one bonus action, and one movement opportunity. With the action point, you can perform a spell or attack an enemy. Once you do that, you can use a bonus action to perform an additional skill like jumping, dashing, healing, etc. With the bonus action, you can also do things that do damage, like shove someone or flourish, throw something at them, etc. You can also skip a turn.

Helping a felled companion will require one action point as well. Your companions (or your character) won’t die entirely, so they can be helped enough that you can perform healing on them or they can heal themselves. The healing is mostly done through spells and healing potions in battle, and you can heal with short rest or long rest when out of battle in addition to that.

You start each battle with a certain amount of spell slots/points and you expend them every time you throw a spell (or a certain type of attack) — you can see how many spell slots you spend for each spell/attack. Once you expend them, you’ll need to rely on your other skills, basic attack, or environment.

Other than that, the fighting is quite creative and one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game for me. It’s really rare for me to like fighting in games. It’s usually stressful and involves a lot of random button-smashing. Not this one, though. This is probably the first game that allowed me to think and fight strategically and creatively.

There are so many ways fights can play out. Sure, you can go for a lot of damage and just shoot around. But you can also do a bunch of fun stuff. Like have Gale cast Cloud of Daggers and then have Wyll Eldritch Blast enemies into it. Or throw grease and then light it up. Or get enemies to stand in water and then electrocute them. Burn or blast bridges they’re standing on, push and shove them off high places — all of it, anything you can imagine is possible.

You can either face an enemy fully, without preamble, or pick off smaller groups before finishing the boss off.

Literally, anything you want to do, any creative solution you can think of can probably work.

Roll the Dice

While you can’t see the dice during battle, you can definitely see them and roll them at other times. For example, when you want to deceive someone, persuade them, intimidate, unlock doors, interact with characters, and more.

Baldur’s Gate 3 actually lets you skip entire battles by rolling the dice in interactions with enemies. For example, I skipped an entire battle in the goblin camp that way. I didn’t have to fight anyone in the blighted village. Sure, sometimes the dice won’t love you enough, but it’s always worth a try.

Keep in mind though that if you do persuade someone to let you pass (or deceive them, or whatever), you won’t be able to loot as easily. It will be pretty much stealing and if someone sees you, you risk capture.

Taking this more subtle approach to fighting has done wonders for me. I never had to fight large groups, at least in Act 1, thanks to slipping past on nice words (worked better for my Bard self). I was able to get into spaces and pick off enemies one by one without dying.

Looting & Equipment Management

There’s so much loot everywhere in Baldur’s Gate 3. Any direction you walk into will give you tons of stuff — which is both a blessing and a curse. If you carry too much stuff, you become encumbered and walk slower.

Now, there are a few things you can do in this case. If you’re near a settlement, you can sell your stuff to the nearest trader (shows up on the map as a little bag with money). You can also send stuff to camp instead, if you’re not up to selling. Another option is to send stuff to your companions. All of this is pretty easy to do from your character sheet, so I don’t think you should have any issues.

Every enemy that dies leaves you a certain loot. Sometimes it’s something basic like a bad weapon or just a bottle of wine. But the harder the enemies, the better the loot you can find.

Leveling Up

You can level up to level 12 in Baldur’s Gate 3. For most people, myself included, things go a bit rough until you get to about level 5, at which point it’s much easier to go through battles.

You level up by going through battles and completing quests.

Every time you level up, you’ll get new skills, options, more health, new cantrips and more. All of the characters in the game will level up with you — even the ones in the camp, although you do have to start using them for them to level up.

Quests

Obviously, the main quest of Baldur’s Gate 3 has to do with removing and understanding the tadpoles. However, how you get there is a bit complicated and will depend on your companions and your decisions. For example, when I traveled with Lae’Zel, she pushed me towards finding other Githyanki to help with tadpoles, while when I played without recruiting her, the focus was more on finding help through Halsin.

Along with that, there are a number of side quests. Some are small and short — like saving a little tiefling girl in Emerald Grove — while some will take more time and effort (finding Halsin, for example). The companions come with their own quests too. And you’ll have personal quests (for example, solving the mystery of Shadowheart’s artifact or using tadpoles).

Map & Travel

You can move through the world freely and the game encourages exploration. I’m very bad at navigating, so the map was often confusing to me, but it probably won’t be for most people. I wished often that there was some sort of pointer on screen showing me where to go (like in Hogwarts Legacy, for example) Instead, I had to open the map often and see where I am, then track back and so on.

There is a fast travel system where you find these gates at different locations and then can travel quickly between them. I liked this option and it was extremely useful.

Camp

Most of character interactions, romance, and cut scenes happen in the camp. It’s a fun element of the game where you can really build relationships and explore them. You’ll also get cut scenes with your dream guardian.

In addition to that, you can interact with Withers, who will allow you to hire hirelings or revive dead companions (not Halsin though, if you lose him, he’s lost because he doesn’t become a permanent companion — trust me, I tried). You can also alter your appearance in the mirror.

Romancing

Probably a fan-favorite element of Baldur’s Gate 3, romancing is quite interesting and complex. You will be able to romance all of the origin characters (Lae’Zel, Shadowheart, Gale, Astarion, Wyll and Karlach) as well as additional companions (Halsin, Jaheira, Minsc, and Minthara), and even villains (the Emperor, Mizora), your dream guardian, and random characters across the game.

Some of them will be there just for a one-night stand, and some will want a more dedicated romance. Some will be open to polyamory (Halsin, Karlach, Shadowheart and Astarion), while some won’t. Similarly, some are easier to romance than others. Keep in mind that you can’t make the other characters fall in love, though. For example, if your Tav romances Shadowheart but you want Astarion and Gale to end up together, this won’t happen.

Most of the romancing happens in camp while you’re resting, so make sure you take plenty of breaks if you want to experience that. You can also skip it entirely, but be aware that the characters will try to romance you whether you like it or not, and you’ll need to reject them (either subtly or not). Most won’t mind and will stay friendly, if sad at times.

When it comes to ease of romancing, you’ll get there the quickest with Gale. He’s uncomplicated and doesn’t have a quest that could make things harder. Wyll is similarly easily romanced, with an opportunity for a kiss being as early as the tiefling party in Act 1 (same as for Gale). Shadowheart is harder to romance, with her character having such a complicated past and it won’t be entirely possible until the end of Act 2.

Jaheira is by far the hardest to romance of the companions — even if you manage to get her on your side, you need to do quite a lot of work to get her to like you.

The romancing in Baldur’s Gate 3 works through getting approval of your preferred partner. For example, Gale and Wyll will like and approve of heroic acts and kindness, while Shadowheart will approve of mostly not getting involved. Astarion, on the other hand, likes mayhem, mocking, and all things self-serving.

You’ll notice a little approval notice in the corner of your screen every time a companion approves or disapproves of your decision.

Once you reach a certain level of approval, the companion will be open to a romantic relationship. You’ll notice options in your dialogue and theirs that hint at flirting or outright offer things.

But don’t think it’s all done once you kiss your preferred partner — you’ll need to still work on your relationship. In some cases, the outcome of your romance will depend on you completing (and the outcome of) certain quests. Similarly, you can kiss multiple people and have flirtationships with them without locking yourself out of other romances, but eventually they will make you choose.

Keep in mind that you will have to start a romance (or romances) in Act 1 if you want to have a romance ending. Act 2 is where you lock in on one, but you have to start something in Act 1 to get there.

Also, I recommend being careful about your dialogue with characters. The simplest things can be interpreted by the game as flirting and “lock you” in a relationship. For example, if you tell Wyll at the tiefling party that he shouldn’t brood and should have fun, this will be interpreted as romance and Shadowheart might reject your advances later.

Graphics and Audio

I don’t know what I can add to the conversation about Baldur’s Gate 3 graphics conversation because they truly are magnificent. Especially so in the cut scenes, where it’s blockbuster movie-level brilliant. The character animations and facial expressions were awesome and probably some of the best I’ve ever seen.

The only thing I kind of didn’t care for is the nature at times — it was often grainy and see-through — but once you sort of get used to it, it’s not really a big deal.

As for the audio, I cannot praise it enough. There are literally concerts of Baldur’s Gate 3 music, so that’s pretty much all you need to know. Down by The River is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. It’s so rare to see such a powerful soundtrack from a video game (at least for me — personally, I rarely get attached to video game music), and some of BG3’s soundtrack will have a permanent place on my playlist.

The voice acting was wonderful too — each character you meet is voiced by an actual person — and the voice casting was so good. I especially liked Shadowheart’s and Astarion’s voice actors because I felt like they embodied the characters perfectly.

How Does Baldur’s Gate Work on Steam Deck?

While most people prefer the big screen for this game due to amazing graphics, I prefer handheld devices because I have simulator sickness and smaller screens don’t trigger it at all. And you might think it’s a waste, but I have to tell you that playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam Deck was amazing.

The graphics still have a strong impact and looked gorgeous throughout and the screen is uncluttered due to some very nifty radial menus. The controls are seamless and easy to get and access, with the turn-based system being particularly kind to the handheld controls.I will say that the graphics do take a bit of a hit, but I didn’t mind; plus, it’s probably fixable in the options menu, I’m just not great at it.

I didn’t notice any bugs or issues while playing, other than what players normally report — like incomplete quests in the journal that you already completed. I was able to settle in comfortably and enjoy Baldur’s Gate 3 without sitting stiff at my desk. And you can see in the pictures throughout this review that it still looks amazing.

Overall, if you also have simulator sickness or just like smaller screens and comfy surfaces to play on, I would highly recommend playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam Deck.

Final Thoughts

Baldur’s Gate 3 is really just as incredible as everyone says it is. I had so much fun playing it, interacting with all of the characters and exploring its world. My favorite part is definitely Act 1 which feels more explorative and fun than the other two, where I felt like things had more direction and felt more serious.

But either way, it’s a fantastic game that I would highly recommend. And don’t feel daunted by the D&D part — it’s really not that hard to grasp, especially if you relax and just give yourself time to explore. But in case you’re still a little unsure, check out my beginner’s guide for people who never played this type of game.

FAQs on Baldur’s Gate 3