Baldur's Gate III

You think you have free will in this life until a virtual 20-sided die decides your entire destiny. Still, where else can you miss a 99% hit on a sleeping goblin but successfully gaslit a demon lord into committing suicide? Best game ever.

I first stumbled across BG3 back in 2023 when it randomly popped up on my Steam page. I'd already sunk hours into the Divinity Original Sin games before that, so the moment I saw gameplay clips on YouTube, I was hooked instantly. Everything about it felt familiar yet somehow more alive. Here's the part I'm not proud of, though. At the time I was completely broke, no job, no income, so I downloaded a pirated copy just to see what the hype was about. I ended up playing close to 300 hours on that version. I built my character, got attached to my companions, explored every corner I could find, and then I reached Act 3. Not because I was bored. Not because I was burnt out. Then something clicked in my head. I remember thinking "if I actually love this game as much as I think I do, shouldn't I be the one paying for it instead of enjoying all these beautiful moments on a pirated copy? What was the point of falling this hard for something and never actually supporting it?" So I made myself a promise. I would not finish Baldur's Gate 3 until I could buy it. As much as it hurt, I closed the game and left my save sitting in Act 3. I wanted to know how my story would end. I wanted to finish every side quest and keep exploring every inch of the city. I had already become so attached to my campaign that walking away felt awful. But I waited. Three years passed, and life changed in ways I never expected. I went through a breakup, battled depression, grieved the loss of people and animals I cared about, learned from my mistakes, and slowly became a better person. Somewhere along the way, I found a stable job, got my finances together, and finally built the gaming PC I had always dreamed of. I still remember playing Act 3 on my old gaming laptop, watching my frame rate struggle in the 30 to 40 FPS range, but I kept playing anyway because I loved this game that much. This time, though, I could finally experience it the way it was meant to be played. And then Summer 2026 happened. I bought Baldur's Gate 3. Properly, fully, no shortcuts this time. Booting it up again felt like coming home. The soundtrack hit different, the bards playing in taverns, my companions falling right back into place beside me. It might sound strange, but over the past few years I spent a lot of time feeling alone. Having this party together again somehow reminded me that even in a single-player game, I never really felt lonely. I know they are just fictional characters, but after everything I had been through, seeing them again felt oddly comforting. I have learned to be okay on my own, even if I still do not know where life will take me next. Maybe there are still hardships waiting for me. Maybe there are still lessons I have yet to learn, mistakes I still need to make peace with, and parts of myself I still need to understand. Whatever comes, I will face it one step at a time. Returning to Baldur's Gate 3 reminded me of how far I have come. The NPCs, the cities, the little details I remembered, they all felt just as alive as they did three years ago. Every moment brought back the same warmth I felt back then, except this time it was finally mine. Three years ago, I left my save in Act 3 and promised myself I would only finish this game after I could finally buy it. Somewhere along the way, this game taught me something I never expected a video game to teach me "if you truly love something, you should show up for it when you finally can. Sometimes that takes time, and that is okay." Today, I finally kept that promise. Thank you, Larian Studios. This game was worth every second of the wait.

bg3 has genuinely become one of my favourite games ever. i went into it never having played d&d before and honestly i wasn’t even that interested in turn-based combat, so i rlly wasn’t expecting to fall in love with it as much as i did. safe to say i was very, very wrong. if you’re anything like i was and you’re hesitating bc you’ve never played d&d or you’re not sure if turn-based combat is your thing, pls don’t let that put you off. i promise i was in exactly the same boat and now i genuinely can’t imagine never having experienced this game. there’s honestly just…soo much to love. the world, the lore, the amount of freedom you’re given, the character creator, the choices you get to make, the different classes, the dialogue…it all comes together so perfectly. i absolutely love that no two playthroughs ever have to be the same. there are soo many different choices to make, different endings to discover, different classes to try and somehow i always end up finding things i completely missed before. i genuinely don’t think i’ll ever get bored of replaying it. the companions deserve soo much love too. every single one of them has such an amazing story and i genuinely ended up getting way more attached than i ever expected. they slowly start feeling less like companions and more like your own lil found family, which honestly made me care abt every decision even more. the voice acting is absolutely incredible too and brings every single character to life so well. and astarion…yeah…he completely stole my heart. every single playthrough i tell myself “this time i’m gonna romance someone else”…and then astarion exists and suddenly those plans disappear. I’M TOO WEAK</3 i’ve basically become the vampire’s personal juice box and i regret absolutely nothing. also…you can pet a doggo AND an owlbear. if that isn’t enough to convince you to buy this game then i genuinely don’t know what is. my only lil disclaimer is that act 3 can be a bit overstimulating (at least for me). once you get to the city there’s just…soo much going on. sooo many ppl talking, sooo many quests, sooo many places to explore…my brain was actively exploding T_T it’s definitely not a bad thing tho, just don’t feel like you have to do absolutely everything at once. also…withers big naturals is an essential mod. i’m not explaining myself lmao. overall i genuinely don’t think i’ll ever stop recommending this game to others. this game, its world and its characters will genuinely always have a special place in my heart. massive shoutout to my sister for introducing me to this game bc you’ve accidentally created another bg3 addict hehe :p 10/10. larian, respectfully…MORE. PLEASEEEE</3