Baldur's Gate 3 Review (PS5) | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

If any video game truly deserves the mildly ludicrous 'AAAA' moniker, it's Baldur's Gate 3. Larian Studios' latest is a roleplaying experience of the first order, a work of vanishing beauty made in the old ways to modern specifications. This third instalment in the long-dormant series effortlessly makes spiritual progenitors Mass Effect and Dragon Age look like tentative first steps on a grander adventure; Larian's own immaculate Divinity: Original Sin 2, a first draft in comparison.

Baldur's Gate 3, defying the odds and against all expectations, brings the legendary CRPG sequel to PS5, offering console denizens the kind of epic roleplaying experience that was once exclusively the province of their blue-blooded PC counterparts. More next-gen than anything on PS5 in terms of life-consuming RPGs, Larian's latest entered a playable Early Access state on Steam back in 2020. The closest competitor the scrappy studio has in this regard is CD Projekt Red, and even its vaunted offerings fall short in comparative depth.

A mechanical marvel on all fronts and that rarest of things, Baldur's Gate 3 is a premium product, launching in a completed state that should be standard for a game of this calibre, not an aberration. It's a country mile wide, several fathoms deep, expertly written, and a revolution for the genre.

Players diving in will, broadly speaking, divide their time between exploring an unbelievably detailed depiction of the Dungeons & Dragons universe, engaging its denizens in cinematic dialogue, and doing battle in ridiculously intricate turn-based tactical encounters.

Centred on the storied Sword Coast — the setting for much of BioWare's earlier efforts (Baldur's Gate I & II) — Baldur's Gate 3 kicks off with an intense