Baldur’s Gate 3 is officially the new zenith for CRPGs. The game won several Game-of-the-Year awards, including The Game Awards and the Golden Joystick Awards, and was formally launched on Xbox. Hailing from the award-winning Belgian studio Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 boasts crunchy, tactical, satisfying RPG combat and memorable stories. The 2023 game received critical acclaim, with many praising its gameplay, narrative, and exceptional production quality. It took a while for Xbox Series X and Series S users to get a hold of the game. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 finally arrived in December 2023, instantly becoming one of the best Xbox RPGs. Some even consider it among the best RPGs ever made, which is enough reason to check it out.
Addressing the Delayed Xbox Release Date
Xbox began teasing the release of Baldur’s Gates 3, but gamers had to wait until December to explore what’s one of the most epic adventures. The game was released early for PC and PS5, but the Xbox versions were delayed. According to Xbox, the developer had to fix the Xbox Series S split-screen co-op performance issues. Xbox has always maintained parity between its Series S and X consoles for all games but made an exception to ensure Baldur’s Gate 3 could be released in 2023. After making headway in the PC and PS5 worlds, getting Xbox users in on the action was essential. The split-screen co-op function is available on Series X only, but all the other features (online co-op, patches, and cross-save progression between Stream and Xbox) are available on both consoles.
An Epic Adventure with Gambling Opportunities
Baldur’s Gate 3 offers hours of an epic adventure spanning turn-based combat, heavy Dungeons and Dragons inspirations, and tremendous customization options. With this game, it’s possible to curve your unique path. The new epilogue update also comes with 3,589 additional lines of dialogue to ensure you can say an elaborate goodbye to your party members at the end of the game. Baldur’s Gate 3 has received the coveted 10/10 rating on most platforms and even online casinos, and the gambling community is getting in on the action. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 has its own gambling features, including gambling tents and mini-games that take you to the fantasy realms. Here are some of the gambling features and opportunities in the game:
- Stealing Kids: The video game offers a twist of humor by allowing players to leverage cunning plans. Thieving children in the game attempt to use basic rouge tricks to steal from players, so you must outsmart them to avoid becoming their target.
- Betting with Lakrissa: The gray-skinned demon Lakrissa hides behind a waterfall near the Owl Bear Cave and offers an intriguing bet that can lead to the streets of Baldur’s gates. The catch is you have to wager Baldur’s Gate 3 gold to help her people survive.
- Chicken Chasing Mini-Game: This mini-game is available in the goblin forest, where you can bet on catching a released chicken. The quick game allows you to win Baldur’s Gate 3 gold or face some consequences.
- Worship Tymora: You can play as a divine gambler by joining Tymora, the gambling goddess. Her blessings protect your daring adventures as a cleric. You’ll also find a gambler background feature with high-stakes role-playing.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Setting and Characters
Like other modern types of RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3 has a lot going on, with unique settings, storylines, characters, and tools. The game is set in the fictional forgotten realms of the 1492 DR about 120 years after Baldur’s Gate 2 (Shadows of Amn) and a few months after Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. This forested world features a druid grove with deities, cursed lands, unnatural beings, and sentient darkness permeable only through magical means. Baldur’s Gate is the largest and most affluent city with a Rivington suburb outlying it. You can also visit the Astral Plane, Underdark, and Avernus.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has a dungeon master narrator who describes the world to the player. You can create the player from scratch or choose from six pre-made options that can be recruited to the player’s character’s party. These include Lae’zel, Shadowheart the githyanki fighter, Astarion the half elf cleric, Gale the half vampire rogue, Wyll the human wizard, a warlock, and Karlach the barbarian. Four additional characters can join the player’s party, and the game also features three primary antagonists, cult leaders, a deal-making devil, a god of murder, a goddess of magic, an unlucky writer, and a manipulative demon.
Top Highlights and Overall Rating
Baldur’s Gate 3 offers an immersive adventure involving memorable stories and complex characters in a highly polished presentation. The cinematic world is designed to reward creativity and exploration from daring gamers. It’s all about overcoming obstacles through intelligent decisions. For instance, with enough constitution scores, you can challenge a zombie to a drinking contest to avoid fighting the huge boss. The game also lets you invite up to three best friends for online and on-the-couch co-ops, complete with their unique costumes. Combat is also carefully crafted, with abilities like teleporting enemies, scattering them to different locations, and blocking spells. There’s little to fault in Baldur’s Gate 3 RPG, making it one of the Xbox gamer favorites in 2024. It’s difficult to see any other game that comes close.
