Little-CRPG-that-could Baldur's Gate 3 has solved the Labyrinth, outwitted the Sphinx and ascended to the rank of Metacritic's highest-rated PC game of all time, knocking ZA/UM's Disco Elysium into second place. (OK, so technically they're both on 97, but I'm guessing the "score distillation" arithmetic behind-the-scenes puts Baldur's Gate 3 ahead - their positions were reversed last time I checked.) This follows a busy weekend for Larian's new game, which exceeded its own online player activity record on Sunday to the tune of around 875,000 players.
It's a terrific achievement for one of the richest and most rewarding D&D adaptations ever set to code. It's also only going to encourage those on the interwebs who are using Baldur's Gate 3's success as a stick to beat other developers with. As you've likely discovered for yourself, the new game is the centre of a raging discussion about what we should expect from today's "triple-A games", aka "biggest/shiniest". Some point to its lack of microtransactions or DRM, while others highlight its relative technical sturdiness and overall "quality". A few people go into specifics: I've read a couple of thoughtful comments comparing the bespoke, one-and-done nature of Baldur's Gate 3 quests with open world action titles and other genres that hinge on repeated quest formulas and reward systems.
