When I heard about “Baldur’s Gate 3” for the first time, I will admit, I was a little skeptical. I am a huge fan of “Dungeons and Dragons” (D&D) and hearing that there was a video game version of it got me excited. With the excitement came caution, as I was not sure it was possible to translate the tabletop roleplaying experience to a game format. I was dead wrong.
I currently have 127 hours (and counting) logged on the game. It took me 100 of those hours just to finish the game for the first time. This is a testament to just how much there is “Baldur’s Gate 3.” Admittedly, it did not actually take me 100 hours to finish a single campaign from beginning to end, that was only about 40 hours. I was so enthralled with all the aspects of the game that I could not help myself from going back and starting a new campaign just to find something I missed, or interact with a scenario differently. There is just so much to find in this game, and with my many hours I still have not found it all.
The game itself translates “D&D” perfectly in all aspects of play. The exploring you can do, the freedom to go anywhere you want, being able to progress the story in whatever way you want. There is a massive amount of side quests that can suck you in. You can sink hours into these side quests, not even touching the main story. At the end of one of these side quests, despite not progressing the main storyline at all, you do not feel like it was a waste.
Speaking of the main story, it is one of the most grasping stories in any form of media. During your first play, you will be shocked, and twisted by every surprise the game throws at you. No matter how you play the game the ultimate payout is extremely satisfying, you really feel like all your decisions truly matter.
My favorite part of “Baldur’s Gate 3” is the companions you get along the way. They are a batch of misfit characters who all have interesting side quests to them. They all have distinct personalities to them and it sucks that you can only bring three of them along at a time.
The fact that this game only has one mainline story, yet it has so much replayability. This is really the best thing “Baldur’s Gate 3” does. No matter what you have done in the game so far, there is always much more to see.
