Baldur’s Gate 3 Surpasses Zelda: TotK With 2023’s Highest Metacritic Review Score

Baldur’s Gate 3 has surpassed The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as the highest-ratest game of 2023 on Metacritic. As of this writing, Larian Studios’ Dungeons & Dragons fantasy RPG is sitting at a 97 on the review aggregate site, edging it out by one point over Tears of the Kingdom’s 96. While this will likely ebb and flow in the coming days as more outlets get reviews out, it’s another clear example of positive buzz around the game.

For context, Baldur’s Gate 3 will likely get more reviews that adjust its overall score in the coming days, as reviewers (Kotaku included) were only given review access a few days before the game launched on PC on August 3. The game is very dense and fairly lengthy. My first playthrough clocked in about 55 hours, and that’s not even counting how much time I spent retrying encounters that wouldn’t be represented on the in-game timer., so a lot of reviewers haven’t finished it yet, and have yet to actually give the RPG an official score or final verdict. So right now, with its first 14 reviews, a handful of which gave Baldur’s Gate 3 a glowing 5 out of 5 or 10 out of 10 score, its weighted average currently sits higher than any other game to launch this year .

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Kotaku’s review is coming soon. Like, real soon. But I’ll at least say I’m feeling pretty hot on what Larian Studios has accomplished with Baldur’s Gate 3, as well. Kotaku doesn’t do scored reviews, so our review ultimately won’t affect the game’s Metacritic standing, but there’s no denying the notability of BG3 holding the top-rated spot—-even if it doesn’t last. It’s especially notable when a lot of this year’s highest-scoring games have been remakes or remasters. I, and a lot of reviewers, still think review scores are detrimental to the review process, but seeing a number that high likely means a lot to the folks who worked on Baldur’s Gate 3 over the years.

If the high scores have piqued your interest, check out some tips to get you started, as well as some tricks to help you excel in combat.

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