Baldur’s Gate 3
Credit: Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 has taken the world by storm, with over 800,000 concurrent players on Steam during its launch weekend and the highest aggregate score on Metacritic of any game this year—though that has dipped slightly as more reviews have come in, bringing it in line with The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom.
Both games have 96/100 scores on Metacritic now that Larian’s RPG has been taken down a notch, and both are tremendous video games in their own right. But I must offer up two warnings for gamers, whether you’re playing already or thinking about buying Baldur’s Gate 3.
1. There Are No Plans For Expansions This is the lesser of the two warnings, but it is kind of worth mentioning. Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of those games that you really get lost in and don’t want to end. So it’s a shame that Larian Studios has no plans to release any DLC or expansions.
The trouble is partly due to high-level adventuring in D&D, which means you’ll be capped at Level 12 and stuck replaying the game as it is rather than ever moving on to new content. This could change, of course, but it definitely feels limiting.
2. Act III Is A Total Mess Don’t take my word for it: Gamers are having major issues with the game’s final act. Baldur’s Gate 3 runs great in the first Act and pretty well in Act 2, but Act 3 completely screws the pooch. Bugs, glitches, and all sorts of performance issues are plaguing players, who are also reporting that they’ve lost hours to bad saves and other problems. It’s not affecting everyone but it’s affecting a lot of people.
Crashes, screwed up quests, pacing issues and more make Act 3 a real slog to get through, and I’m a little surprised that so many reviewers have given this game a 10/10 with Act 3 in such rough shape. Frankly, it doesn’t seem that Baldur’s Gate 3 was actually ready for release (despite years spent in Early Access) and this was rushed out the door prior to getting the necessary polish.
It’s still a terrific game that I enjoy a great deal, of course. Hooray for old-school CRPGs and all that. I just wish it wasn’t so broken in Act 3! Buyer beware!
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