Opinion
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by Rainer Etzweiler
5 years of "Baldur's Gate 3": Why the game remains an unrepeatable masterpiece
6.10.2025
Translation: machine translated
"Baldur's Gate 3" is the result of a cosmic coincidence in which timing, talent and nostalgia merged into a perfect symbiosis. We will probably never see a masterpiece like this again.
There are those moments in pop culture when everything falls into place and something is created that is greater than the sum of its parts. In English, this is known as a «lightning in a bottle» - a lightning bolt in a glass. A fleeting moment of perfection that simply cannot be reproduced. The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was one such moment, as was the cast of «The Dark Knight» with Heath Ledger's Joker.
And «Baldur's Gate 3»? That's fucking Zeus himself, who shot his entire lightning collection into a champagne bottle. The game launched in Early Access on 6 October 2020 - five years later, we're still talking about it as if we've collectively had a religious experience.
What makes this game so special?
1. the timing
The first two parts of «Baldur's Gate» are still among the best games ever. Part 1 heralded the renaissance of the RPG genre in 1998 and the sequel followed just two years later, making everything bigger, more impressive and more epic. A whole generation of gamers grew up with these games and have been waiting for a worthy sequel ever since.
When Larian Studios finally released «Baldur's Gate 3» in 2023, the timing could hardly have been better. Dungeons & Dragons, the licence on which the game's world and ruleset are based, was experiencing its absolute heyday.
Thanks to «Stranger Things», normies suddenly knew what a D20 was and «Critical Role» turned the nerd hobby into a mainstream phenomenon. Matt Mercer and his troupe regularly turn pen-and-paper sessions into entertainment gold, attracting millions to their screens. Suddenly, the hobby that only a few years ago got you beaten up in the playground had become trendy.
«Baldur's Gate 3» channels the feeling of a real D&D session so perfectly that you can almost smell the cold pizza and stale cola. The dice mechanics, the freedom of problem solving, the consequences of your decisions - it all feels like being at the table with friends, only with better graphics and less discussion about rule interpretations.
2. the studio of the hour
Developer Larian was the perfect choice for the project. The Belgians released their first RPG «Divine Divinity» in 2002. This was still a far cry from today's output in terms of quality, but laid the foundations for a consistent rise to become the best western RPG studio ever.
«Divinity Original Sin» (2014) and «Divinity Original Sin II» (2017) present themselves as a cumulation of all the experience Larian has accumulated. In retrospect, the two games look like letters of application for the development job of «Baldur's Gate 3».
3. the courage to be patient
Decades of experience meets creative freedom - a combination that is rarer in today's gaming landscape than a bug-free launch from Bethesda. But that wasn't left to chance either: «Baldur's Gate 3» took its time in Early Access. A whole three years.
While other studios proudly serve up their half-baked products (hoi «Cyberpunk 2077»), Larian used the Community as a huge test laboratory to iron out as many flaws as possible before release. As a result, the game went on sale reasonably bug-free despite the sheer endless interaction possibilities.
«A late game is ultimately good, but a rushed game is forever bad», is an oft-cited quote, which is incorrectly attributed to Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Larian has apparently not only taken this quote to heart, but also tattooed it on his chest.
«Baldur's Gate 3» is the perfect antidote to the many disappointing AAA releases of recent years. No microtransactions, no day-one DLC bullshit, simply a complete, functioning game.
4. the characters
In a role-playing game, the story is central and «Baldur's Gate 3» delivers a spectacular epic. However, I maintain that the stories my party friends bring to the table are many times more entertaining and better than the main plot of the game.
The characters are so well written that even the grumpiest critic will weaken. The emo elf Shadowheart remains a believable complex heap right to the end. Astarion is the most lovable arsehole since Futurama's Bender. And if the silk thread by which my heterosexuality hangs eventually snaps, it will probably be the walking Red Flag Gale's fault.
I fell in love with every single one of these slobs - a clear symptom of parasocial relationships.
Intermezzo: Parasociality for beginners: The «BG3» edition
Parasociality is when, after 200 hours of play, you seriously consider whether Shadowheart reminds you of your ex, while at the same time entering Karlach's birthday in your team calendar. It's the moment when you mumble «Wyll would understand» in real life after your boss annoys you again, or when you find yourself wanting to discuss Astarion's trauma recovery with your therapist.
You know these virtual characters aren't real, but your brain has decided after the third romance cutscene that Gale is definitely your best friend and you'd go to battle for this magic-addicted nerd.
When video game characters are so well written that they elicit genuine emotional responses and make us think about our own relationships, a little parasociality isn't just forgivable - it's a mark of quality. Sorry not sorry, but I'm already planning my next therapy session with Halsin.
5. the ultimate freedom
While other RPG franchises like «Dragon Age» and «Final Fantasy» are racing along the casualisation highway, Larian decided to go in the opposite direction: full throttle towards complexity.
«Baldur's Gate 3» is an infinitely deep RPG that gives players complete freedom. You want to ambush the mercenaries? Here you go. Persuade a boss enemy to kill himself? Why not. Rob every NPC and still be the hero? Your moral compass, your rules.
Almost every mission can be approached differently. There are hardly any limits to your imagination and spirit of discovery. Stealth, diplomacy, brute force or a combination of all - the game respects your creativity and rewards unconventional thinking. And that provides the fodder for reason number 6.
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6. the Community and the replay value
Months and years later, we're still discussing how we approached this or that quest. «You did WHAT to the goblin camp?» has become a running gag. You can't buy this kind of organic Community engagement, you can't force it - it just happens when a game really resonates.
This is also accompanied by a replay value that only very few games can boast. Every time I complete a quest or kill an enemy, I can't help but wonder if there could have been a more creative, better way to do it.
I could play through «Baldur's Gate 3» five times and have a completely different gaming experience five times.
Why «Baldur's Gate 4» has a hard time
Larian had the time and the budget to make exactly the game they wanted. No publisher to talk them into it and no shareholders to satisfy. This kind of creative freedom hardly exists outside of the indie scene - unless your name is Hideo Kojima and you have a sugar daddy called Sony.
The licence and the timing were perfect. It feels like more people are playing Dungeons & Dragons than ever before. But trends are like waves - they eventually break. The next attempt may come too early or too late.
This must also inevitably measure up to its predecessor and can presumably only disappoint. The pressure inevitably affects the developers, and nobody works well under pressure. Creativity needs room to breathe, not the constant fear of producing the next «Mass Effect: Andromeda».
Who's up for «Baldur's Gate 4» consideration?
Despite all the pessimism, there is also reason for hope. Larian is by no means the only competent RPG studio. For me, there are three possible candidates:
Obsidian Entertainment would be the logical choice for the successor. They proved with «Pillars of Eternity» that they understand old-school RPGs and showed with «The Outer Worlds» that they can also do humour.
Owlcat Games, on the other hand, has created a small sleeper hit with «Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous», which can almost keep up with «Baldur's Gate 3» in terms of complexity, and the 2023 release «Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader» is considered by many fans to be the best video game adaptation of the Games Workshop licence.
CD Projekt Red has the resources and talent to get the project off the ground. However, the Poles would first have to prove that «Cyberpunk 2077» was the exception and not the new rule.
«Baldur's Gate 4» will come, no question about it. But it will be a different game, for a different time. And that's probably okay. Because we've already had our moment. We've defeated the dragon, saved the world and with the bear... well. What happens in Faerûn stays in Faerûn.
Header image: Larian
Rainer Etzweiler
Freelance Editor
rainer@rockstar.chIn the early 90s, my older brother gave me his NES with The Legend of Zelda on it. It was the start of an obsession that continues to this day.
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