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Play Overview
Baldur's Gate 3 (1998) is a role-playing game that recreates the Dungeons & Dragons experience in a digital world. You explore the world and fight enemies by rolling dice and weighing up your stats to see what happens. But beyond that, it's the vast branching narratives that emerge, stemming from your choices, that make this an outstanding game with each playthrough unique.
Set in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons, mysterious dark forces are on the rise once again. You're captured by evil monsters and infected with a parasite that will eventually turn you into a monster. But as the infection grows, so do your magical powers. You manage to escape with other prisoners and set out to save the world. As you explore the vast world, from cities to forests to ancient crypts, you fight off enemies, meet locals, and make choices that change the course of history.
Play involves traversing the world, fighting off fantastical creatures and monsters, and interacting with characters. At the start of the game, you create your character from different races and classes, each with different skills and abilities that determine your options not only for combat but the narrative.
Combat is turn-based and follows the modern D&D (5th Edition) rules; you decide on your actions, then roll dice to see their outcome. When talking to characters, the available choices depend on your prior actions in the world, your character, and your current relationship with the other character. depending on what you do and say, you can fall in love, save the world, or doom it, each in countless different ways.
The result is a game that offers a near-limitless degree of freedom to do what you want and go where you want, while still offering a turn-based combat challenge. The countless stories that can emerge from who you choose to be and what you say to people make for a game that can be replayed over and over again, just like a real-life board game.
This is the third game in the Baldur's Gate series of D&D games, all of which offer a similar core structure:
There have also been several Baldur's Gate spinoff games:
Our examiner, Oli Hawkins, first checked Baldur's Gate 3 14 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 11 days ago.
Set in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons, mysterious dark forces are on the rise once again. You're captured by evil monsters and infected with a parasite that will eventually turn you into a monster. But as the infection grows, so do your magical powers. You manage to escape with other prisoners and set out to save the world. As you explore the vast world, from cities to forests to ancient crypts, you fight off enemies, meet locals, and make choices that change the course of history.
Play involves traversing the world, fighting off fantastical creatures and monsters, and interacting with characters. At the start of the game, you create your character from different races and classes, each with different skills and abilities that determine your options not only for combat but the narrative.
Combat is turn-based and follows the modern D&D (5th Edition) rules; you decide on your actions, then roll dice to see their outcome. When talking to characters, the available choices depend on your prior actions in the world, your character, and your current relationship with the other character. depending on what you do and say, you can fall in love, save the world, or doom it, each in countless different ways.
The result is a game that offers a near-limitless degree of freedom to do what you want and go where you want, while still offering a turn-based combat challenge. The countless stories that can emerge from who you choose to be and what you say to people make for a game that can be replayed over and over again, just like a real-life board game.
This is the third game in the Baldur's Gate series of D&D games, all of which offer a similar core structure:
- Baldur's Gate (1998) PC, Mac.
- Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (2000) PC, Mac.
- Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (2012) PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, Android.
- Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition (2013) PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, Android.
- Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) PC, Mac, PlayStation 5.
There have also been several Baldur's Gate spinoff games:
- Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (2001) PC, Mac, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Xbox One, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Switch.
- Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (2004) PC, Mac, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Xbox One, Switch.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance (2021) PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S.
Our examiner, Oli Hawkins, first checked Baldur's Gate 3 14 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 11 days ago.
Kids not old enough for this yet? There are lots of games similar to Baldur's Gate 3. Here are some similar younger-rated games:
Play Style
This is a Battle, Narrative and Role-Play game with Adventure, Fighting, Simulation, Strategy and World Building elements. You can play with 1 to 2 players in the same room or as a 4-player online game. You can play cooperatively with one other player locally on PS5, but not on PC. You can both freely explore the world and engage in fights, or stick together and go through the entire story as a team. The same goes for the 4-player online co-op play.
You can play this game in the following styles:
Duration
Play Time: This game will take between 50 hours and 60 hours to complete. The story changes depending on your choices, so you can play several times over with a different experience every time. Overall, there are over 120 hours of cutscenes and many hundreds more of possible play in the game, although you can't do everything in one playthrough.
Benefits
Age Ratings
Content Rating
Users Interact: The game enables players to interact and communicate with each other, so may expose players to language usually associated with older rated games.
Rated for younger players in Australia. Rated Mature Accompanied (MA 15+) for Sexualised Imagery, Strong Nudity, and Strong Sex Scenes.
The developer provides the following Mature Content Description on Steam: "It contains General Mature Content, and may include Nudity or Sexual Content."
Skill Level
12+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game. Still, it's important for parents and guardians to consider the maturity required to process the game content. It's also important to ensure children understand in-game purchases and have spending limits set-up. Combat is turn-based so you can take your time with actions and decisions. Rather, the challenge comes from making informed and tactical strategic choices about what to do and how to proceed.
Account Rating
- You need be 18-years-old to to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold for online play, but can then configure family accounts for younger players to play online with Xbox Series X|S.
- You need be 18-years-old to subscribe to PlayStation Plus for online play, but can create sub-accounts for younger players of 7-years or older to play online with PlayStation 5.
Costs
Baldur's Gate 3 usually costs £49.99 to £57.99.
There are three editions of the game you can buy:
You can buy the deluxe edition content in-game if you get the Standard Edition.
It's important to set up your accounts and devices appropriately. More information is on our Financial Resources page.
Baldur's Gate 3
There are the following additional costs associated with this game:
- In-Game Purchases: Additional in-game purchases are offered for items that enhance the experience.
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You need a subscription to play online:
- You need to purchase a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online with PlayStation 5.
- You need to purchase a Xbox Live Gold subscription to play online with Xbox Series X|S.
There are three editions of the game you can buy:
- Standard Edition (digital & physical) which is the base game.
- Deluxe Edition (digital only) which includes the game and some extra cosmetics and a digital artbook.
- Collectors Edition (physical only) which includes the Deluxe edition content and lots of physical items such as a map, an oversized 20-side dice, and a 25cm tall diorama.
You can buy the deluxe edition content in-game if you get the Standard Edition.
It's important to set up your accounts and devices appropriately. More information is on our Financial Resources page.
Game Details
Release Date: 21/12/1998, updated in 2023
Out Now: Mac, PC, PS5 and Xbox X|S
Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds
Players: 1-2 (4 online)
Genres: Battle, Narrative, Role-Play (Adventure, Fighting, Simulation, Strategy and World Building)
Accessibility: 44 features
Components: 3D Third-Person, Dice and Open World
Developer: Larian Studios (@LarianStudios)
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