One of the best games of the year is also one of the deepest.
Zach tells us the ins and outs about Larian’s generation-making experience.
Buldur’s Gate 3 is the new big CRPG (Computer Role Playing Game) on the market from the veteran studio Larian. The studio is known for making the Divinity Original Sin series, primarily for Divinity Original Sin 2. Larian’s life blood is rooted within the DNA of CRPGs and Table Top RPGs, so they’ve dedicated their whole time as a studio to creating games in this one specific genre.
What’s important to note here is Baldur’s Gate is the series that really kickstarted the genre that Larian has gone onto perfect over the years. Now Larian gets to try their hand with the critically acclaimed series.
The results are beyond expectations. There is an amount of care done by Larian which shows not only their expertise with the genre but also their genius as game designers. There’s a sense of genuine wonder brimming throughout Baldur’s Gate which is something that many large games of this size seem to lack.
Baldur’s Gate being a Dungeons & Dragons game also lends itself to being more character role play focused than combat heavy like other CRPGs. The more heavy and intricate systems in the game are the ones you encounter while walking around the world or talking to your party members. The amount of detail that’s put into allowing you to actually be the character you make isn’t something that I feel has ever been done before and it’s likely to never be replicated.
Characters in your party intermingle and become friends, enemies and lovers. At one point in the game you are stuck between helping a grove of druids or destroying a goblin encampment. Once you go to the goblins you can talk to them and their leader asks if you want to betray the druids. Both options are viable. Both options will spin the story in different directions. This is just one small example of the amount of control YOU have over YOUR character.
Combat while simple is also a deep pool. A short offhand example is this: Shadowheart can learn a spell that produces rain and makes the floor/enemies wet. My Sorcerer specializes in the Lightning spell, so if I hit an enemy that is wet my Lightning does x2 damage. I can also freeze that puddle of water and make it ice so it’s hard for enemies to walk on.
I would normally have to really dig deep and try and sell a title like this to my friends. But pitching this game to everyone I know has been relatively easy because Baldurs Gate 3 has been met with critical success across the internet. Garnering more than 800,000 players at once on Steam, planting itself in the top ten most played games of all time on the PC Platform. If that doesn’t make you intrigued, then I don’t know what else would.
Okay so how about this, you can play the entire game as a cheese wheel.
This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. This video first appeared on The SideQuest Live for August 4th.
No Comments