Baldur's Gate 3 Review (Xbox Series X|S)

Editor's Note: Originally, we held off displaying our "Outstanding" 10/10 score for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox because of a major issue in which players were losing their save files. We didn't experience this issue during our review, but we felt it was important to make players aware that they could lose hours and hours' worth of progress.

Since then, Microsoft has pushed out fixes to try and address the issue, and reports of deleted saves have lessened significantly. We therefore feel comfortable sharing the score that we always intended to give Baldur's Gate 3 based on our review impressions, but it's still worth noting that the issue hasn't been 100% fixed for everyone just yet.

It's not often we get to review a game that's already been universally acclaimed as one of the greatest examples of the art form yet produced (check out that Metascore, baby!), an adventure that's been swamped with accolades over the past few months, including the prestigious Game of the Year prize at Geoff Keighley's annual celebration of Hollywood celebrities. That's exactly what's happening right now, though, as one of the year's biggest highlights finally magic missiles its way on to Microsoft consoles.

Yes, Baldur's Gate 3, Larian Studios' epic finest hour, has finally arrived on Xbox, and it's absolutely been worth the wait for those amongst you who've been itching to get your hands on what we can quite confidently describe as the Greatest RPG Ever Made™. Yes, it really is that good. To consider there must have been some serious nerves to contend with too, taking charge of such a legendary series after a 23 year hiatus, this was something that required the expertise of a team who could balance all of the intricacies of D&D combat, a deep choice-driven narrative and world-building that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of Bioware's best. That's some big shoes.

As soon as we got wind that Larian Studios was on the job, our excitement levels were automatically fully maxed out, though. This, after all, is the team behind the mighty Divinity: Original Sin and its incredible sequel (this writer's previous favourite RPG of all time), and the potential for this combination of legendary property and amazingly talented team to produce the very best Baldur's Gate yet was clear to see. Fans of the Divinity franchise will already know that this dev team are dab hands when it comes to creating complex D&D worlds that present the players with seemingly endless options, choices and tough decisions to make. These are beautifully written games, incredibly well acted, with top-notch combat and exploration that rewards you at every turn.

We're not gonna pretend to understand how they do it, but these are the sorts of games that - in a very good way - make you feel just that little bit dimmer as you play them. How can so many deep and intricate systems hang together so well? How have they thought of every action I might take? Where has all this extra player agency come from, and why are the things I'm doing not breaking this crazy game? Baldur's Gate 3 - and we can't quite believe we're saying this - makes Divinity: Original Sin 2 look...well...like the last big thing in the genre. It's a step up in every regard, and to step up from the likes of D:OS2 is quite the task.

And so here we are, in 2023, feasting on the best Baldur's Gate yet. From the moment your carefully crafted player character steps through that great big gnarly sphincter at the game's opening, replete with incredibly ornate genitals that you've spent hours designing, you can sense you're in for the ride of your life. We're not gonna get bogged down in detailing the narrative here, it's been covered a million times already and we're not gonna be responsible for spoiling anything, just know that this is best-in-class stuff right from the get-go. If getting off to an exciting start is critical to a successful game of D&D, well Baldur's Gate 3 ensures that its stakes are fully raised early doors.

Waking up aboard a Mind Flayer's Nautiloid that seems to be having some slight technical issues, you're treated to a tutorial section - in much the same vein as D:OS2's opening ship sequence - that covers basics such how to interact with objects, the ins and outs of dialogue choices and their repercussions - via a conversation with an exposed brain - and all that very important stuff. It's a neat and tidy start that serves to grip you whilst also allaying any fears newcomers may have that this game is going to be a little too confusing or tough to get into.

Fear of these things is quite normal, to be clear, and there's been a genuinely big leap here between how players are onboarded when compared to the tougher beginning of Divinity 2. There's a much smoother easing into the complexities of combat, for example, with your first skirmishes on the Nautiloid much more manageable than how the action kicked off on The Merryweather back in 2017. Once you've got your bearings and find yourself on terra-firma things get underway properly, and you'll struggle to find many games that feels so absolutely charged with potential in their opening hours as you stumble around and get to grips with a first main mission that shows you just how dramatic the effects of your choices can have on so many aspects of the Forgotten Realms.

We spent around about two weeks shuffling through the opening act on our first playthrough - we really didn't want to miss anything - and it's a first act that's designed to give you the time and space to figure things out, to find a groove with the intricacies of the combat and to get a proper feel for your squad. And what a squad this is by the way, with standout performances from the entire cast; Neil Newborn, Devora Wilde, Jennifer English, Tim Downie, Amelia Tyler, Theo Solomon, Samantha Beart, Matthew Mercer and the all the rest of the gang.

Of course, Baldur's Gate 3 had been delayed on Xbox chiefly due to issues surrounding the splitscreen mode on Series S. With this component now jettisoned on that console, we've got a game that runs well - when it's not suffering from save file issues - especially in performance mode on Series X, and playing on that machine we've had none of the problems and niggles we had when playing on PC/PS5 closer to the game's original release. This one has had an extended stay in Early Access on PC, it's been patched and updated endlessly over the past few months, and you can already feel the improvements in a game that's a notably cleaner experience than it was on launch day back in August.

Beyond the issue that we mentioned in our note at the top of the review, it's been smooth sailing for us personally during our time with Baldur's Gate 3 on Series X and, although we're no Digital Foundry, we actually felt like this version might have pipped the PS5 version for smoothness, although it's clearly very close and both versions run really well at this stage anyway. Of course the Series S will be a different experience but on the flagship console we've got a certified winner on our hands, once Larian gets that save issue sorted."

We could whittle on and on here, regale you with tales of our best adventures, closest fights, funniest moments, steamiest conversations (oh you best be ready for some heavy flirting), but let's just cut to the chase. Baldur's Gate 3 is phenomenal stuff. You will not play a better game this year, or most other years for that matter, and every award that this behemoth has hoovered up already has been thoroughly deserved. This is gaming gold, truly rarefied stuff, an epic RPG that gives you unprecedented agency, and surrounds you with NPC characters, allies and enemies, so well written and acted that they're much more than just your regular band of AI teammates. These are teammates who will notice and react and reconsider their mental position on you as you pick and choose and determine their fates, who'll call you out and challenge your wisdom as you chart a course through one of gaming's finest hours. These are teammates with whom you'll develop very special bonds.

This review is our second run with Baldur's Gate 3, and it's clarified for us just how radically different two playthroughs of this epic can be, how important your decisions are, how reactive and malleable every aspect of the combat, narrative and world-building here really is. It's magic really, and RPG fans and newcomers to the genre alike owe it to themselves to get involved. We don't get a genuine all-timer every year, but we sure as hell got one in 2023.