Baldur’s Gate 3 developed by Larian Studios (Dvinity: Original Sin, Divinity: Original Sin 2) finally had its PC release on August 3rd after 3 years of early access. The console release is slated just under a week away for September 6th, and I have a feeling its going to have just a great a reception on console as it had on PC. It was reported that the available content in early access accounted for roughly 25% of the total playable game, during that time over the past 3 years I logged approximately 50 hours of play time exploring, engaging in the content, and fooling around with the few mods that came out. Even as a buggy mess in early access it was clear that Larian Studios had the groundwork set for a masterpiece of a game. With the full release, Larian’s CEO Sven Vincke made it clear that a good story is top priority, and there will be no microtransactions. For the first time in a while a big budget game is being released where you can buy the whole game up front.

The story begins with a cutscene of various citizens throughout the city of Baldur’s Gate being abducted onto a mind flayer (Purple squid faced humanoids that are all connected through a hive mind) ship as it flies through the landscape stealing away anyone it can to turn them into mind flayers through a process called ceremorphosis. Your character, along with most of the almost dozen recruitable companions are all among the litany of abductees, and the ultimate goal of the game is to find a way to stop or potentially control this process in an effort to both save yourself and the world as a whole.

Within the first week of the game being out I logged another 50+ hours and, at this point I have beaten the game on one playthrough with about 55hours on that run, have another solo playthrough I’m working on getting close to 50 hours and only about halfway through the game exploring everything in more depth, getting distracted by new easter eggs and side areas I never noticed or weren’t revealed to me due to certain choices made in the first playthrough. On top of that, I have 3 other multiplayer runs I’m doing with my wife, sister, and best friend using different race/class combos, and getting to experience different scenarios as a result. Overall I’m at 224 hours played and climbing, and I haven’t even begun looking at mods. There is a LOT of content for those who love replaying games Honestly if this doesn’t end up winning game of the year I will be more than a little upset. Even if you don’t like to replay games a single playthrough is fulfilling, its so content rich, that while you may feel like you’re missing out on some content here and there because of certain choices, there is still have a lot of meaningful content at every turn.

This game is worth every penny, and not a single moment of my invested time feels wasted. Addressing the romancing concerns some parents or other individuals may have with regards to the game; Nudity, you can easily turn off both general and cutscene nudity in the settings and the game even prompts you on initial launch if you want it on or off. The nudity toggle does not affect the gameplay in any way to my understanding, and romancing the party companions is also fully optional playing little to no role in story outcomes. You have full control to opt in/out of romance scenes and situations when they arise. Certain choices in the game can cause companions to permanently leave your camp, and being in good standing with whichever companion the choice pertains to certain helps in their remaining in the camp, however you are not forced to romance a companion in order to accomplish this.

I hope this game helps contribute to a re-raising of the bar. That the gaming industry once again will focus on making good content instead of continuing to release half-baked buggy games with cosmetics priced just as high as the game itself because they can make a quick buck leaving things broken and selling shiny baubles to the whales of the gaming space. It’s clear when a game is a passion project and when its just another mindless money grab. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to continue to see passion projects. I’m more likely to buy them, and will enjoy them more, and just like with good books vs bad ones, they tend to sell better too regardless of length. With the way the gaming space has been lately even 10 stars feels like too few for this masterpiece.