https://web.archive.org/web/20230809222832/https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldurs-gate-3/best-pc-game
Baldur’s Gate 3 is my favorite RPG game of all time, and it’s only been out of early access for a few days. I haven’t slept for any of them. Larian Studios poured its heart and soul into the Dungeons & Dragons-style game, making Baldur’s Gate 3 one of the most immense releases of 2023 yet. It looks like I’m not the only player who feels so strongly about Baldur’s Gate 3, though, as it has just taken the number one spot as this year’s top-rated PC game on Metacritic.
As further detailed in our Baldur’s Gate 3 review, this D&D game is one of the best of its kind. From its quirky cast of characters (yes, Baldur’s Gate 3 romance is exceedingly fun) to its massive world, you’ll have a difficult time putting the game down or finding any shortage of content to play through. It looks like PC gamers all over the world would agree with this, judging by user scores across Metacritic.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is tied with Zelda for the top-rated spot across all platforms with a score of 96. However, if you look at just PC scores rather than including console, you’ll see that Larian Studios’ masterpiece is number one. It now stands with a score of 97, beating out Street Fighter 6 which has a Metascore of 92 itself. If it keeps soaring on the Steam charts, Baldur’s Gate 3 may actually end up the best game of the year on any platform, whether that be console or PC.
You can view the full list of 2023’s best games on Metacritic here for a more in-depth look at the scores. The second big post-launch Baldur’s Gate 3 patch also just dropped, which means Larian Studios is still hard at work on the game. As long as the content and fixes keep on coming, I personally don’t see this digital D&D icon slowing down any time soon.
I enjoy so many of the tabletop features Larian Studios implemented into its new game, like the dice rolling and the dungeon master-esque narration. The extensive Baldur’s Gate 3 class system is also, in my opinion, unrivaled by any other D&D PC game. Keep an eye on Metacritic’s overall scores for 2023, you may just see Baldur’s Gate 3 overtake Zelda and hold a top-rated spot in multiple categories.
Never played a game like this, but all these good reviews and such are making me really consider it.
It's the DnD game that all the ones before it aspired to be. Not only is the gameplay excellent, it's graphically gorgeous and you can feel the dedication spent on the world and it's characters.
I'm not going to say it's perfect, but this is 100% what every turn based RPG will have to compare itself against for the next decade if not longer.
And every quest feels interesting instead of auto generated rinse and repeat without any voice acting you get in any other game. I really missed this from older rpgs
Man everything is all good feedback and excitement. I’ll have to give it a go. It’s been settled.
If you're new to the genre as a whole I'd definitely recommend dipping your toe in with something cheaper first. Pillars of Eternity and it's sequel are often enough on sale or Gamepass. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is this studios previous title and it's old enough to be on sale. I got my $60 worth for sure, but $60 is $60.
Thanks for the tip, maybe I’ll check those out first.
Then there was me completely neglecting environmental interactions pre/during combat for 5 hours. Still a blast! After learning Pillars of Eternity, the curb here is definitely more bearable and a much clearer combat system IMO
If you like D&D at all, or even have a passing interest in it, I’d highly suggest getting this game.
For me, it is the perfect balance of good writing and story construction, interesting combat and challenging but it doesn’t feel like the NPCs are cheating difficulty, and pure open RPG.
I think just brace yourself for a few minutes of figuring out the movement, camera, and ui.
Definitely took me a moment to acclimate, but loving it. Reminds me of the kotor and the first dragon age origins.