Baldur's Gate 3: Still the One to Beat
Catalog reviews answer one question: should you buy this game today? For Baldur's Gate 3 — three years, a stack of major patches, and countless imitators after its August 2023 launch — the answer is an easy yes, and arguably easier than it was on day one.
What it is
Larian's adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition is a party-based RPG in which you and up to three companions chase a parasite out of your skulls across a hundred-plus-hour campaign. Combat is turn-based and systemic — height, surfaces, shoves, and improvised chaos all count — but the real engine is reactivity. Kill a quest-giver, romance the wrong vampire, or fail a dice roll at the worst moment, and the story doesn't break; it bends around you and keeps going.
Why it holds up
Most RPGs simulate the appearance of choice. Baldur's Gate 3 spends absurd resources honoring the real thing: entire scene branches, companion reactions, and endings most players will never see on a first run. That's why it remains endlessly replayable and why "what did YOU do in Act 2" conversations still happen in 2026. The companions — Astarion, Karlach, Shadowheart, and the rest — remain some of the best-written and best-performed characters in the medium.
The version you buy today is also simply better software than the 2023 release. Patches since launch fixed the once-shaky third act, added playable epilogues, new subclasses, official mod support on all platforms, and crossplay. The infamous launch-window performance problems in the city of Baldur's Gate itself are largely tamed on current hardware and consoles.
What still grates
The D&D 5e ruleset carries baggage: early levels can feel miss-miss-miss swingy, and newcomers face a wall of terms the tutorial only half explains. Inventory management across a four-person party remains busywork. And it demands patience — this is a game of slow, deliberate sessions, not something to grind out in twenty-minute bursts. None of these are reasons to skip it; they're reasons to start on Balanced difficulty and let the game teach you.
Who it's for
Anyone who liked Divinity, classic BioWare, or tabletop D&D — obviously. But it's also the right first CRPG: turn-based combat means no reflexes required, and the difficulty options are genuinely flexible. If you bounced off it at launch because of Act 3 performance or bugs, this is the moment to come back.
Verdict — 9.5/10. The rare landmark game that got better after the credits rolled on its launch coverage. In 2026 it's cheaper, more stable, moddable, and still unmatched at making your choices matter. If you own a platform that runs it and haven't played it, this is the backlog entry to clear first.
