Baldur’s Gate 3 Review: Larian Rolled a Critical Success (PS5)

By now I can only assume you have heard of Baldur’s Gate 3, the role-playing game which has held much of the gaming community in its tight and tentacled Mind Flayer grasp. Developed by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a stand alone story from its predecessors, with a fresh take on the direction of the franchise while still respecting the roots of its source material as well as the lore it implements from Dungeons and Dragons (5th Edition). It is no secret that Larian have passed all their skill checks with glowing results. Yet the porting of the CRPG to consoles piqued much curiosity.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on Steam for £49.99 ($59.99) and PlayStation 5 for £57.99 ($69.99) with the Digital Deluxe edition priced at £65.99 ($79.99). An Xbox release date is yet to be confirmed, although is expected before the end of the year.

Story – Tailor-Made Tales

The D&D based campaign begins in Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. From the distressing point of view of an alien-like pod, you witness a fellow captive being penetrated with an Illithid Tadpole. Even if you are unaware of the consequences of these wiggly little guys, the horrific way of them entering your body will make you squirm as they force their way into your facial orifices. This premise sets up the plot of Baldur’s Gate 3, as in Act 1 your priority becomes finding a way to remove the tadpole. Or you can embrace the worm and utilise its powers as it burrows its way deeper into your brain. As ever in Larian’s masterpiece RPG, the choice is yours. Decision making begins following the short cutscene in between selecting ‘new game’ and character creation.

Character Building

The character you choose to build is more than a mask provided for a protagonist, whose story is planned out with either route A or route B. Your race and class not only dictate your base stat points but also predetermines how others perceive you in game. In my solo playthrough I chose to play as a Dragonborn, this causing other characters to address me as such. As for my class I was a Druid, enhancing my abilities of Nature instincts and Animal Handling. The Druid ability to shape shift into different animal forms allowed me the delight of living my lifelong dream of conversing with animals, which was the opening for some of my more humorous and unexpected conversations in the game.

However, one of the most astounding elements of Baldur’s Gate 3 is the sheer amount of freedom, and how all these choices are accounted for. Actions have consequences. And the way these consequences interconnect with one another never lead you to a dead end. When one narrative door closes, another opens, a different path for you to explore based on how you have interacted with the world so far. Decisions made in Act 1 will follow you into the darker depths of Act 2 and beyond. All loose ends are cleverly twisted together, as the intertwining stories of your party come together in unusual ways. 

The character creation screen offers a wide variety of customisable options.

Origin Characters

Your party members will consist of whichever vagabonds you find along the way, a few of who also happen to be playable origin characters. While I strongly recommend creating your own character in Baldur’s Gate 3, if the choices prove too overwhelming you can select an origin character to play as; the fierce Lae’Zel, devilishly charming Astarion or hotter than the sun Karlach to name a few (I promise I’m not objectifying Karlach, she is literally really hot). When playing as a custom character, these characters instead show up as companions to join your journey. The backstories for these characters will warm your heart and send a chill through your spine as you uncover their secrets.   

There is also a third option for how you start your playthrough, titled as “The Dark Urge”, specifically curated for those softer hearted gamers who struggle to pick the ‘evil’ options in games. The Dark Urge gives you a pre-made background, but still allows you to customise your appearance, class, the all-inclusive pronouns and genitalia options. This background encourages you to part take in wrongdoings, through the narrator delivering darker monologues and offering more twisted choices. The Dark Urge option opens up even more content for you to discover, and is an intriguing, albeit disturbing showcase of the replayability of Baldur’s Gate 3.

The character sheet is where you will find you inventory, statistics and other vital information for your party.

Gameplay – PC to PS5

Larian has done an excellent job of condensing the PC controls onto a controller. Almost every button on the DualSense has dual use, such as tapping up on the D-Pad allows you to jump without opening the radial menus, whereas holding Up equips your torch; press X to interact, yet if you hold down X it will scan the nearby area and display all interactive items in a drop down menu. Radial menus are truly the shining highlight of the port to PS5 and a clever way of not resorting to the use of point-and-click mechanics.

Radial Menus 

The enormous on-screen inventory of items and actions has been swept away and packed into R1 as a handful of weapon-wheel style menus. While the slots on the radial menus are automatically assigned for you, tapping on square (while in said menu) allows you to rearrange and organise your items/actions as you like. Square can also be used in your inventory, to send items to another party member or directly to your camp chest. The inventory management is personally one of my favourite mechanics, being able to use backpacks or chests to divide your resources into sections. Not forgetting of course, the keyring, which stores all the keys you will inevitably pick up.  

A singular menu wheel is opened with R2. This contains your character sheet, which works as your inventory as well as showing your statistics in separate tabs. This menu wheel is also where you will find options such as short/long rests, return to camp, the map and fast travel. Or alchemy, where you can extract ingredients and craft potions. Your Illithid powers are accessible through this menu too, if you think they are worth the risk (personally, I did embrace the tadpoles). Other slots on the wheel are taken up by your journal, which keeps track of the quests completed and the combat log, which allows you to track the off screen dice rolls happening during combat. 

Instead of a massive point-and-click inventory taking up the screen, the controls have been condensed into the DualSense in radial menus.

Dice Rolling Role Playing

Each of the party members you recruit have their own characteristics, personalities and skills unique to their class and backgrounds. This is yet another way choices come into play, as passing Religion or Arcane checks reveals more items, or Survival checks make you aware of hidden loot. These “background checks” are performed automatically by randomly generated dice rolls. It is impossible to know whether the dice will roll in your favour, so balancing your party is a way of tipping the scales in your direction. The random nature of the dice means no two playthroughs will ever be the same (unless you choose to reload saves to get your own way).

There are on-screen rolls of the die too, where you can see the number required to pass as well as the result of your roll. These usually appear in dialogue, although the same rule applies of perks and bonuses being able to buff your score. The main feature which differs this dice rolling mechanic to the automatic rolls is the opportunity to use inspiration points you have earned to roll again. This offers you an advantage if you don’t achieve your desired result first try, as in some places dialogue can be used to avoid large and difficult combat sections. 

Turn-based Combat

Combat is another way Larian have implemented Dungeons and Dragons rules into their RPG. When an encounter is about to begin, time slows down with a satisfying clicking sound as the turning cogs come to a stop. That being said, turn-based mode can also be activated before the battle begins, allowing you to get creative and set up your own ambushes to gain an advantage on Initiative rolls (these decide the order of turns) or even surprise your enemies, rendering them useless for a turn. Turn-based mode is also useful for when areas are rigged with traps, making your movements more specific and the terrain easier to navigate.

Every character has an action, bonus action, and a movement amount allocated per turn. Depending on class, there is also a selection of spell slots, more of which will unlock as you level up, however using one of these slots also requires using your action. Even here, the dice decides the outcome. Each weapon and spell do not have a set damage amount, but instead a range and conditions required for the attack to be successful. The fights can often be challenging, in particular if you are unfamiliar with how the game works. Yet after the first 10 hours or so, you become accustomed to the core mechanics, and begin to recognise ways you can use both your party and the environment to deal critical damage.

Multiplayer 

The entirety of Baldur’s Gate 3 can be played in co-op, either split screen or online. My experience with online multiplayer so far has been short, sweet, and most importantly, smooth. All allies taking their turns at the same time in combat was slightly confusing at first, myself being used to only one character moving at a time. But once I had got used to the slightly quicker fights, the only real challenge became working as a team, such as splitting loot. When a friend is in conversation you can spectate the dialogue, and even select which option you would have chosen/would like them to choose. Together you can perform good (or evil) deeds, or perform music as a group. Whatever your vibe, there is plenty to experience with your D&D friends as you bring your characters to life.  

You can start a campaign online with up to four friends, aid each other in combat, progress the story, or start a band. The choices truly are endless.

Audio and Graphics – Wondrous Faerûn

Sticking to its tabletop theme like a coffee stain on – well, a tabletop – Baldur’s Gate 3 is not quite an open world. Instead, the layout is more like a collection of 3D dioramas, connected through peril filled paths, adorned with rocky ledges and occasionally puzzling navigation. Each of the model-like settings emulate the feeling of being transported to an intricately designed toy set, with interactive levers or hidden doorways to yet another detailed setting.

Exploring the world is extremely satisfying, as off the beaten path you may find more miniature models to loot your way through. By using the right analog stick to zoom in and out, you can switch between an on the ground, third person perspective, or admire the scenery from an isometric, birdseye point of view. Everything is D&D centric, all the way down to the grid and co-ordinates based map. 

Sounds of Faerûn

The narrator stitches all the story beats and settings together with regular and welcome interruptions. Delivering the lines of monologue with melodic cadence, they successfully create the atmosphere of being told a magical bed time story and effectively switch to more sinister tones when the moment calls for it. The narrator is accompanied by a strong cast of talented actors, who not only voice the origin characters but provided the motion capture too. All the NPCs you meet along the way are also given distinct personalities which comes from the strong acting, showing each and every character has lived a life before you entering it.

And last, but certainly not least, is the phenomenal soundtrack composed by Borislav Slavov and consisting of 43 dynamic tracks; ensemble choirs vocalising in mythical languages, sweet tones of a harp or epic orchestral pieces. Each musical element expands on the magnitude of Baldur’s Gate 3, truly capturing the essence of wonder and magic weaved throughout the land of Faerûn.

Baldur’s Gate 3 was reviewed on PS5 with a key provided by ICO Partners.