Baldur’s Gate 3

After over six years of development, three years in early access, and an endless series of bugs, patches, and edits, Baldur’s Gate III has finally been released. For Larian Studios, it was a real leap into the unknown: six years had passed since the release of their previous game, the team had grown, ambitions were off the charts, and expectations from Wizards of the Coast hung over the project like the sword of Damocles. Everyone around said that isometric RPGs were a thing of the past, but Baldur’s Gate confidently proved the opposite – almost 875 thousand players online at the start and a wave of enthusiastic reviews speak for themselves. And this is just a few weeks after the release! Given the scale and complexity of the game, not everyone managed to even reach the middle. While some are still fighting tieflings and arguing with druids in the first act, exploring the world of Faerun, collecting herbs and trying to tame an owlbear, I arranged a real gaming marathon for myself. I played the game from start to finish twice, trying to see as many possible developments, dialogues and endings. We agreed in advance to choose radically different characters and make opposite decisions. This way we checked how much the plot really changes depending on the choice. And, frankly speaking, the result exceeded all expectations.

Now, in our separate reviews, we are ready to answer the main questions: why is Baldur’s Gate III called the game of the year? Do you need to play the previous parts to understand the plot? How can a newbie understand the intricacies of D&D rules and defeat the insidious dice? And, of course, did Larian manage to surpass the legendary scene with the bear? The answer is a definite “yes”.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Free Steam Account

When it became clear that Larian had decided to postpone the sequel to Divinity for a new part of Baldur’s Gate, fans became wary. After all, this is not just a game, but a whole adventure in the world of Forgotten Realms — a complex, rich universe of Dungeons & Dragons. Questions immediately began to pour in: is it worth taking on the third part if you are not familiar with the first two? How difficult will it be to get into the lore and mechanics? And in general, is it possible to understand these DnD things of yours if you have never thrown dice at the table?

The answer is simple: it is possible. Moreover, Baldur’s Gate III does everything to make a newcomer feel comfortable from the very beginning. At the start, there is a choice of difficulty level (I tried both “Balance” and “Tactics”), and the entire first act is essentially a training sandbox. Just don’t think that you are being led by the hand — the game simply skillfully weaves explanations into the process. You can get stuck in the first location for dozens of hours, exploring the world, delving into the combat and completing quests of various genres – from heart-rending to comical. The battles are also varied. Sometimes you are confronted by stupid enemies who happily run into traps. And sometimes – more serious enemies: they focus weak allies, use consumables and control the fight. Gradually, you begin to meet those who break the usual rhythm – for example, they have the ability to control the mass or act as a team. Here you will involuntarily begin to think a couple of moves ahead, and at the same time – more closely monitor what your companions are doing.

The quests in the first act are also educational, but they are presented in such a way that it is not felt. In some, fights cannot be avoided, no matter how hard you try. In others, everything is decided by a dice roll. And the central storyline, where the interests of druids, tieflings and goblins collide, can be completed in dozens of different ways. If you want to understand everything, conduct your own investigation. If you want drama, set everyone against everyone. If you want anarchy, destroy everything alive. The main thing is freedom of choice, not “following the arrow”. As for the lore, it is presented with respect for the player. Even if you know nothing about the Forgotten Realms, the world will not push you away. It is not at all necessary to complete the previous parts. Yes, fans of old BioWare games will certainly be happy to meet Jaheira, Minsc and other familiar faces, but for a newbie this will not be a minus – just pleasant details that do not affect the understanding of what is happening.

The history and mythology of the Forgotten Realms are revealed gradually. As you progress through the game, you’ll learn about the Dead Trio, gods and magic, the rise and fall of Netheril, Karsus and his fatal mistake, the eternal feud between the illithids and the githyanki, and even what’s going on in hell (literally, in Baator). Don’t worry if you don’t understand anything yet – the game will tell you, show you, and give you time to figure it out. By the way, if you want to understand the world better, don’t ignore the books, notes, and loading screens. These aren’t giant tomes like in The Elder Scrolls, where you have to read half an hour for each book. Everything here is compact, to the point, and often extremely useful. Sometimes it even helps you figure out key plot twists long before they’re revealed. And yes, those who like to dig through the game files and build theories can breathe a sigh of relief – much of what fans suspected in early access turned out to be true. And spoilers – we know how to hide them here. So be vigilant and don’t spoil your pleasure!

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Plot: Who Are the Illithids and Why Do They Kidnap Heroes

Since the game’s release in early access, the main plot has hardly changed. The world of Faerun is still engulfed by a new threat – a mysterious race of mollusk-like creatures known as illithids. They once lost a war to their former slaves, the gith, and disappeared from the surface for a long time, hiding in the bowels of the earth. Their return was a shock: they fell on the world from the sky, piloting a giant nautiloid, and in a matter of minutes managed to capture many living creatures. Among them is your hero.

However, captivity is only the beginning of troubles. Illithids, as hermaphroditic creatures, reproduce in a very creepy way: they implant a larva in the victim’s head, which gradually devours the brain, turning a person or another creature into one of its own. Obviously, the first thing you will have to do is look for a cure – and preferably not alone. Fortunately, along this path you will meet the same “lucky ones” with a tadpole in their skull.

You will be able to recruit some of them already in the first act, others – closer to the middle or even the end of the story. Advice from experience: try to befriend everyone. Especially if you play a character with a chaotic good character – you should like it. The more allies, the more opportunities and interesting moments in the plot. Each companion is like a piece of a mosaic, without which the picture will not be complete. Here are just a few examples of what your companions can share:

• Gale — will tell you about Mystra, the Weave, Karsus and the history of ancient Netheril;
• Will and Karlah — will introduce you to the dark world of hellish deals and the Blood War;
• La’ezel — will introduce you to the society of githyanki and their strict goddess Vlaakith;
• Halsin — will help you uncover the essence of the cursed lands and the nature of their corruption.

Even if you do not take any of them into your team, some knowledge can be obtained from books and notes, albeit in a more compressed form.

The developers did not deceive: at the beginning of the game, you can create a character from scratch – choose appearance, class, race – or take one of the heroes with a ready-made story. Such characters, as in Divinity: Original Sin II, receive unique quests and special lines that add depth to the passage.

For my first try, I chose something in between — a character with the mysterious name of The Dark Urge. He is completely customizable, but his past is filled with darkness and danger. It was with this choice that my strange, cruel, and shocking journey began.

Why You Shouldn’t Pick Dark Seduction for Your First Playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3

At the last Panel from Hell, the developers showed Dark Seduction and strongly advised against choosing him for the first playthrough — right before Baldur’s Gate III left early access. Naturally, I ignored this advice. Who knew they were right? But it’s not that you’ll miss out on some content. The problem is different: Dark Seduction is, in fact, the main character of the entire game. His storyline and personal quest are so well-developed and atmospheric that everything else seems dull against their background. After completing his role, returning to the custom Tav is like switching from a drakkar to a cart: you seem to be moving, but the sensations are no longer the same. The bar is too high.

Those familiar with the previous parts of Baldur’s Gate will most likely immediately guess who is in front of them. The rest will gradually unravel the mystery along with the hero. Dark Temptation is a full-fledged character with a backstory, personal cutscenes and a quest. And everything would be fine, but his role in the story is much larger than that of the other companions. Only he has no memory – and it is restored bit by bit until the very end. Waking up after the crash of the nautiloid, the hero does not understand who he is. He is gnawed by anger, a sense of loss and a thirst for revenge, the reason for which he himself does not remember. This tension will accompany the player until the very end, and the Narrator – in the spirit of a true game master – will direct, prompt, help to understand himself and his dark impulses.

Important: being a villain, playing as Dark Temptation, is not at all necessary. You will have complete freedom to choose your path:

• follow the call of darkness and indulge your base desires,
• resist vices and strive for redemption,
• balance between light and shadow, making difficult moral decisions,
• use your power for the benefit of others – or solely for profit.

The game will support any style – inspiration is awarded for both virtue and vice. Many praised the “light” passage, especially with the paladin of the Oath of Vengeance – the third act then reveals itself in a completely new way, with a bunch of unique dialogues. I chose the path of strength and fear – and the “Balance” mode only contributed to this. I threatened, manipulated, eliminated everyone who crossed my path. I forced people to obey and worship. Bloody decisions, as luck would have it, most often gave more experience and rewards. By the middle of the game, there were no boundaries for me. So I found myself in the arms of the Absolute.

Yes, some storylines were missed. While other players shared their stories, I realized that I had missed out on a lot. But I also gained a lot – just something different, no less exciting. Instead of saving the grove and going to the Moon Towers, I dove into the Underdark and got stuck there for a good 20 hours. And then – like an important person – I sailed to the lair of the Absolute to steer there too.

Illithid or Hero? How Choices in Baldur’s Gate 3 Affect Abilities and the Plot

By the end of the first act, our brave company had more questions than answers — and that’s even without amnesia, which usually only complicates everything. What kind of Absolute is this? Why does it cooperate with the illithids? And how did the dark deities — Myrkul, Baal, and Bane — get involved?

So far, the only clues are the mysterious artifact Shadowheart, the larva in the brain, and the mysterious Guardian who visits the heroes in their dreams. As in early access, this mysterious stranger can be customized to your taste at the start of the game. But in the release version, he no longer looks like a cunning tempter luring you into a trap. On the contrary, he is now a protector, an ally, almost a spiritual mentor. Yes, he still insists on using the illithid abilities, but now — for the sake of survival, for the sake of the common cause and saving Faerun. Like, this is the only way we have at least some chance. My heroine didn’t exactly resist. New powers, absolute authority – all of this seemed too tempting to refuse. Thus, a separate development branch opened: you manually implant fresh larvae into the brain, gain new illithid abilities – and off you go.

True, such a “partnership” with the parasite leads to rather unexpected consequences. But there is power at stake, which can turn an adventure that is already generous with opportunities into a real extravaganza of power. At some point, I even switched to the “Tactics” difficulty and began to replay some battles over and over again, just to try different approaches, strategies, to check – what will happen if …

In the end, I spent about 40 hours in the game – and this is only for loading, tests, forks and dialogues. And here’s what’s interesting: the difference between “Balance” and “Tactics” turned out to be less than expected. Rest in the camp became more expensive – 80 supplies instead of the usual 40, the enemies got a little pumped up (Commander Zhalk on the nautiloid gave it his all), my heroes began to miss with blows more often – even with the “karmic cubes” turned on. And, of course, the enemies began to rush more actively and burn potions indiscriminately. I did not have time to completely replay the game on this difficulty, but even by the end of the second act I did not experience problems with resources and money. This means that there is still room for experimentation, and this is good.

Baldur’s Gate 3: Bugs, Abuses, and Tricks That Make the Game Too Easy

Sometimes, playing through Baldur’s Gate becomes easier not because of heroism or tactics, but because of… let’s say, special circumstances. There are bugs, exploits, and sometimes surprising indifference on the part of the developers. In my two playthroughs, I caught myself thinking that the game and I were simply making fun of each other — who would outplay whom. And, as it turned out, my friend also found a couple of elegant ways to turn the game into a walk in the park. By the way, he will tell you about them in his video review.

I have already mentioned one of the most dishonest tricks before: the rogue’s ability to use stealth as a bonus action. I had Astarion in my team, and every boss fight was like a scene from a cartoon where one hero hits another on the head, and the other doesn’t even understand where it came from. The vampire would sneak up, shoot from the shadows — and disappear again. Often, opponents didn’t even notice that someone was attacking them. And if they did guess, they stood there, spinning in place, completely confused.

There is another “fun” trick, especially useful against story bosses: you can almost always approach them in stealth and start the fight on your own terms. Yes, cutscenes disappear, but so do the annoying difficulty modifiers. And when, instead of an intense battle, you just make a headshot before the enemy has time to open his mouth, you feel like either a genius or a scoundrel. Although, to be honest, for me, as a morally flexible character, this rather added to the pleasure. Each boss can be neutralized before he has time to use his trick – be it a duel, a sacrifice, or a timer for the number of turns. All this turns into an empty formality if you act first … and in the back. Paladins, of course, would not approve of this, but I do not need their approval.

But no matter how much you exploit the system, bugs will still balance the score. And there are plenty of them here. So here’s a piece of advice for all times: save as often as possible. The game can throw up such things that you’ll have to replay for hours. Here are just a few cases from personal experience:

• Astarion suddenly fell asleep after teleportation and did not wake up from anything: neither from magic, nor from blows.
• The goblins did not rush to attack after the massacre, but tried to send my hero… to prison.
• The guards at the entrance to the temple were fixated on one dialogue and prevented me from passing.
• One of the mandatory artifacts simply did not appear, and I had to roll back three hours.
• Some quest items can be accidentally sold – and no one will warn that it was that very important thing.

But perhaps the most absurd situation happened when I accidentally sold a key quest item. Mintara gave me a spider lyre — with its help I was supposed to summon a guide through the cursed lands. But, as usual, I got distracted, went to the first merchant and sold the lyre along with a bunch of useless junk. Like, no one in the group knows how to play instruments anyway. And then the goblins were like: “Where’s your lyre?” — and my eyes were like five rubles. I had to figure it out on the fly.

My friend, by the way, managed to sell the most important item in the game for five coins — right after she gave her soul to the cambion for it. The moral? Don’t repeat our mistakes. Mark quest items, give them to reliable companions or immediately hide them in the camp chest. This will save you both progress and nerves.

Is Baldur’s Gate III worth playing?

Baldur’s Gate III is a true adventure in the spirit of classic Dungeons & Dragons. The game starts with you being a nobody, just another fortune seeker. And then, without noticing it, you turn into a hero, whose decisions determine the fate of the whole world. Or its death. It depends. Sometimes the game makes you laugh out loud — this is the very signature humor from Larian, which is recognizable from the first lines. Sometimes — you want to wipe away tears or seriously worry about the characters to whom you have already become attached. And sometimes the game scares and even causes slight disgust… towards yourself. Because the choices you make cannot always be justified.

Yes, Baldur’s Gate III has problems. There are a ton of bugs. And the personal epilogues that you were so looking forward to after the finale are simply absent. But despite all this, there are more than 100 hours of fascinating history behind you, which you want to return to again and again. Alone. And then in the company of friends. Although before that, I still want Larian to polish up the third act and the ending.

At the moment, it’s a solid “Amazing”. The game undoubtedly ranks among the best RPGs of recent years. And I want to believe that its success will let the industry know: single-player large-scale RPGs are what players have been waiting for and are waiting for.

What I liked:

• A huge, rich plot with a bunch of forks and dialogues that are impossible to see even after ten playthroughs.
• Battles, including bosses, that surprise, shock and do not let you get bored.
• One of the boss fights turns into a full-fledged musical – and it works!
• The soundtrack by Borislav Slavov is already in my playlist and is unlikely to disappear from there.
• The ability to approach the battle creatively: someone can be turned into a sheep, someone – beaten by an owlbear, and someone can be slapped with a ghostly hand.
• Quests that evoke a whole range of emotions: from laughter to the desire to throw a mouse at the wall.

What upset me:

• The final act is noticeably inferior in quality – both in the plot and in the implementation.
• The illusion of choice: closer to the end, the dialogues become more and more linear.
• The consequences of decisions are sometimes simply not felt.
• And again, bugs. Lots of bugs.

Baldur’s Gate 3 System Requirements

If you’re thinking about diving into Baldur’s Gate 3, your PC doesn’t need to be a monster, but it should definitely have some decent muscle. To get started, you’ll want to be running a 64-bit version of Windows 10 — pretty standard stuff these days. A mid-range processor like an Intel i5-4690 or AMD FX 8350 should get you through the early parts of the game just fine, especially if you’re okay with playing on lower settings.

You’ll also want at least 8 GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly. And when it comes to graphics, something like an NVIDIA GTX 970 or an AMD RX 480 (with 4GB of VRAM) will do the trick — not the fanciest cards out there, but good enough to experience the world without too much stutter or lag. Now, if you’re after that cinematic, high-fidelity experience where every spell sparkles and every shadow feels alive, you’ll want to bump things up a bit. Ideally, we’re talking an Intel i7-8700K or a Ryzen 5 3600 for the CPU, along with 16 GB of RAM. Pair that with a GPU like the RTX 2060 Super or the Radeon RX 5700 XT, both with at least 8 GB of VRAM, and you’re in for a real treat.

No matter which setup you’re using, make sure the game is installed on an SSD. It’s a big one — around 150 GB — and you’ll definitely appreciate those faster loading times. Oh, and don’t forget: DirectX 11 is required, so make sure you’re up to date.

All in all, Baldur’s Gate 3 is surprisingly flexible with its system demands. Whether you’re running a mid-range rig or a high-end setup, the game has enough options to make your adventure smooth and enjoyable.

How to play Baldur’s Gate 3 for free on Steam via VpeSports

Have you ever felt like you really want to be in Baldur’s Gate 3? Not just watch gameplay on YouTube or read reviews, but go through ancient ruins yourself, have life-changing dialogues, and fall in love with one of your partners? But then there’s the “but” — the price tag. You kind of want it, and you kind of feel sorry for it. Sound familiar?

I found a way out — a real one, a working one, and without any “buts.” There’s such a thing as free steam account via VpeSports. You go there, go through a simple registration, and then you’re almost at the gates of Baldur’s Gate. No hacks, no strange files — everything is official, simple, and for people. In the section with free Steam games, you’ll find Baldur’s Gate 3. Open its page, click the download button — and detailed instructions appear in front of you, where everything is laid out on the shelves. You don’t need to be a third circle mage to figure it out.

And when you start playing, that’s when the real magic begins. Your decisions, your story, your mistakes and triumphs. And then, take a look at the reviews page and tell us how you like this world. Did something particularly catch your eye? Or did you find a bug that somehow became cute? Share it. Reviews are moderated there, but if anything, they’ll guide you and tell you what to fix. As soon as everything is ok, you’ll receive your account details by email. Just like a letter from Hogwarts, only in the Forgotten Realms style.

By the way, if you want to stay in the know and not wait for the weather to change, subscribe to this Telegram channel and its chat. There are frequent updates, instructions, live communication and help if something goes wrong. For example, I go there just to read what’s new with other players. Well, the guide to launching Baldur’s Gate 3 and more is also there, on the site. It really helps out when you want to do everything right the first time.

In general, if you’ve been wanting to start this journey for a long time, but something was holding you back, here’s your chance. No pathos. Just take it and play.