The release of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Aug. 3 has thus far proven to be one of the biggest video game launches of 2023 so far, with an overall positive reception from all walks of the gaming community. It won’t just stop at 2023 though as, according to select review sites, it’s already one of the best games of all time.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has shot up the PC game review rankings, taking up the second spot all-time on Metacritic as of Aug. 12 only behind beloved RPG Disco Elysium. Both of them share the same score—a 97 out of 100—ahead of other classic games like Half-Life 2, Grand Theft Auto V, Bioshock, and even the franchise’s predecessor Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. Looking back at games on all platforms for the site, it just passes Nintendo Switch monolith The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as the highest-rated game of 2023 so far.
Considering the weight that some of the other titles in these top tens have, it’s pretty amazing to see a game get such reviews so quickly. Only a week into gameplay, the fanbase realized how good this game truly was, so much so that it was breaking records all over the place. From soaring into the highest concurrent player records on Steam to unbelievable stats like spending decades of time in character creation alone, the appreciation for the game is as high as a game could be on launch.
Related: One week after launch, Baldur’s Gate 3 players have spent 88 years in character creation
The only recent comparable is Tears of the Kingdom, which has a 96 out of 100—still a point lower than Baldur’s Gate 3. Both games rely on gameplay that thrives on creativity but in very different ways.
Tears of the Kingdom is all about using the mechanics of the game to its limits, letting players make whatever they want like a mix of an adventure game and a sandbox game. Baldur’s Gate 3, meanwhile, thrives on its character creation, a story with changing dialogue, and the ultimate video game experience of the classic tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons.
Out of all the interesting aspects of the story, there still is potential for Baldur’s Gate 3 to rise in review sites like Metacritic, considering how recent the release is. Most official review sites have their opinion down for the game, but plenty who held out waiting for these reviews or those looking to jump on via console still have time to form their own.
The only test Baldur’s Gate 3 has yet to beat is the test of time, but the path it has cemented so far will make that particular challenge a cakewalk.
