PS5

Published on September 15th, 2023 | by Daniel

Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 Review!

A few years ago now, before Covid started. A friend of mine finally managed to convince me to join his D&D group, I’d expressed curiosity about it for long enough that it got on his nerves and he bullied me until I finally agreed. At first I was hesitant, but I quickly came to enjoy it, the different worlds and adventures you could have. I’ve made some pretty good, lasting friendships as a result. So when I met yet more friends who loved watching shows like Critical Role and they were raving on about Baldur’s Gate 3 coming. That same curiosity returned and I knew I had to get my hands on it. And oh man, it did not disappoint!

Story and Gameplay

From the moment you select new game, I knew I was in for one hell of a ride. The opening cinematics are insane, with movie like clarity and theatrics, I simply couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. If you’re a little squeamish about creepy crawlies, it might not be the game for you because it does not shy away from any graphic detail. Once the amazing set piece concludes and you finally take control of your character, you might find yourself surprised at just how good the game looks too. More on that later. Having no experience with the series and its’ predecessors, I didn’t know what to expect. I had almost figured the style would be similar to say..that of other RPG series set with similar themes of medieval and magic. Dragon Age, was probably the first that came to mind, with it’s radial menus featuring attacks, abilities, spells and more. It even has a relatively similar camera system, able to zoom up close to your party for a more, intimate viewing angle, all the way out to a top down, almost bird’s eye field of view. Allowing you to survey areas ahead of you to get a feel for what might be lurking ahead.

If you’re familiar with D&D 5e, you’ll feel right at home here because it plays very much like a self contained 5e campaign. Almost like you’re the Dungeon Master, except without the ability to control enemy combatants. Very early on you’re faced with a moral decision, one that will affect the story adversely at various points later. This moral choice comes with a dice roll, it’s not quite as satisfying as rolling a real dice and hearing it roll before making your heart leap or sink depending on your luck. But it definitely comes close, the satisfaction or utter devastation either side of a dice role, critical attack or critical miss, you feel it all just as powerfully as you would in a real Dungeons and Dragons game. Even better when you can play co-op with up to three other friends for a full party of four!

The game lets you choose between completely custom, ‘blank slate’, character. Or from 6 pre-made and 1 custom Origin, these characters are all unique, have their own motivations, positives and negatives. Do you go all attack with melee and spells? Hope that you can find, buy, loot enough potions of healing to make the difference? Or do you play tactically, with a mix of power, healing and tactical buffs or debuffs? With so many options, the possibilities are almost endless! I say almost, because there is a fairly limited number of races you can start with, but that’s a very minor gripe I have.

Graphics

Baldur’s Gate 3 is truly everything an avid D&D player could possibly want, without the need to have all your buddies join you. But of course they can do that too!

Visually the game is stunning. To continue where I left off in my opening paragraph, right after you finally gain control of your character for the first time, you peer around your surroundings. The attention to detail is far beyond what I expected coming into the series. Everything looks as good up close as it does far away. Smoke billows from from atop roaring flames and smoking wreckage. Electricity courses around and around broke terminals and consoles. Trees rustle in the wind, shadows cast real shapes on the ground, blood glistens with an almost mirror like sheen, yet still retains its’ thick texture. Doors can be blown clean off their hinges, or splintered into tiny pieces. Spells crackle, zip, zap, screech, roar and hiss as they fly around the battlefield.

The radial menu is clear, easy to understand and the inventory screen shows everything you need to know about anything you might need to know. Characteristics, statistics, proficiencies, inventory, carrying capacity, equipment, buffs, debuffs. You name it, they’re all here. Well, except a short rest, that’s covered under another radial menu, complete with your journal, combat log, map and fast travel options. They even have a turn based mode to make everything a little easier to control!

Everything looks and feels like you’re playing the closest thing to a real D&D game, it’s a surreal experience. Playing from the birds eye view almost feels like you’re watching little miniatures fight it out. But if you zoom in, it feels like the closest thing to being the character. Animations are very smooth too, you can see the weight in every strike of a heavy melee, the finesse of a light melee or the power of gathered energy before a cast.

Audio

Baldur’s Gate 3 has a very strong soundtrack and voice cast as well. The only lacklustre performance would be the custom characters you can make yourself. The voice options available all just sorta sound the same, but with slight variations in tone. Their performances in game too, are limited to very short and often very spread out moments in game, outside of the interactive dialogue cutscenes. They just wind up sounding flat, bored, uninterested and repetitive. But apart from that, there’s a strong voice cast in all of the premade characters and even some very strong supporting characters and villains too! The all go the extra mile to make their performances feel like you’re really involved in what’s going on, like they speak directly to the player, rather than to another character. Two standouts for me would have to be Astarion, the suave, sultry noble type with a dark secret. And Shadowheart, the no nonsense cleric with a surprising fear. I won’t go too deeply into character names, or more deeply into what they’re like as the game is still really fresh in people’s mind and might cause some story and character development spoilers.

The score is great too. With strong, climactic music to suit the tense moments of combat. And peaceful, tranquil serenades as you wander and traverse the land. Finding treasures, carving up your foes, binding, casting, grappling. Even the sound effects are top notch, I fully came in to this game expecting strong story and a fun campaign. But I was more than blown away by the level of detail Larian Studios have gone to make Baldur’s Gate 3 the ultimate experience.

Final Thoughts?

If there’s any other gripe apart from what I felt was a small lack of races, which is just a selfish gripe of my own. It would have to be the jankiness of the camera, most of the time it’s great, outstanding even. But there are times when selecting an option in combat, like an attack or a spell. The camera locks in place over the active character for a moment, requiring the wiggle of a the stick a few times to unstick it. Other times, when trying to reach items further back on a table, a ledge, on the wall or on a shelf, you might find yourself unable to select the next item using the d-pad. Instead you’ll find a quick wiggle of the stick will break you free and you can go on with doing what you were doing. This is probably just a bug and a minor one at that, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it. Compared to everything else in this game, it gets an overwhelming thumbs up from me. Truly a game I’d pay full price for and I haven’t said that about many games and definitely not in a while. So what are you waiting for? Go get it!

Game Details

Game Genre – Role Playing
Developers – Larian Games
Publisher – Larian Games
Rating – MA15+
Year of Release – 2023
Platforms – PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Mode(s) of Play – Single, Multiplayer

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About the Author

Daniel Hi I'm Dan! 33 and Non-Binary. When I'm not writing reviews. I like to get deeply immersed in the lore of an mmo or rpg, cruise the forest or coastal roads of Victoria, watch anime, read manga, build model kits and do a bit of sketching on the side.

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