Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 continues the classic series but rebuilds it on the rules of fifth-edition Dungeons and Dragons and a turn-based combat system. The player begins as a captive aboard a ship belonging to an alien race whose members have implanted a parasite in their head meant to turn them into one of their own. After the ship crashes, a group of survivors sets out to find a cure, and the road takes them through a coastline, cursed lands, and finally into the city of Baldur's Gate itself, where it's revealed who is really behind the infection. The main storyline branches depending on whom the player chooses to trust.

The game offers an unusual amount of freedom. Nearly every problem can be solved in more than one way — through conversation, a dice roll to persuade someone, sneaking around a cliff edge, shapeshifting into an animal, talking to the dead, or simply setting the whole room on fire. Combat is turn-based and makes use of elevation, reach, patches of fire and poison, shoving enemies off ledges, and combinations of spells. The party can hold up to four members, and companions have their own storylines, opinions, and endings. The entire campaign can be played together with other players, with each person controlling their own character and free to split off from the group at any time to go their own way.

Technically the game looks exceptional thanks to full motion-capture performances, meaning even side conversations are fully directed instead of relying on static text screens. Performance on modern PCs is good, though the final act grows more demanding due to the sheer number of characters present in the city. The music draws on both orchestral and period instruments and features original songs performed directly within the world. Reception was extremely strong, and the game took home the industry's top awards. Its influence lies mainly in raising the bar for how many consequences an RPG can accommodate, since it accounts even for very unusual player behavior. Today it's one of the most expansive games in the genre and can easily run past a hundred hours without losing pace.