Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main game in the Baldur's Gate series, which is based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system. A partial version of the game was released in early access format for macOS, Windows, and the Stadia streaming service, on 6 October 2020. The game remained in early access until its full release on Windows on 3 August 2023. macOS and PlayStation 5 versions are scheduled for release on 6 September 2023, and the Xbox Series X/S version is planned for 2023. The Stadia version was cancelled following Stadia's closure.

Gameplay
Baldur's Gate 3 is a role-playing video game that offers both a single-player and cooperative multiplayer element. Players can create one or more characters and form a party along with a number of pre-generated characters to explore the game's story. Optionally, players are able to take one of their characters and team up online with other players to form a party. Like previous games in the Baldur's Gate series, Baldur's Gate 3 has turn-based combat, similar to Larian's earlier games Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin II; all combat is based on the D&D 5th Edition rules.

Plot
The game is set in 1492 DR, over 120 years after the events of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and months after the events of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. It features a branching plot typical of CRPG's where the main beats of the story stay mostly the same no matter the players' choices, but with considerable variation in the details, especially concerning the numerous side quests. The player can, at the beginning of the game, either create an original character who is essentially a "blank slate" in terms of back story, or choose one of seven pre-made "origin characters".

Act I
The story begins with the protagonist waking up inside a nautiloid, dimension-crossing illithid flying ship. They are implanted with an illithid tadpole, parasites that enthral and transform people into other mind flayers; however, before the transformation is complete, the ship comes under attack from githyanki warriors and their red dragons. The ship flees through multiple realms, including Avernus, the first of the Nine Hells. The protagonist is freed during the fighting and steers the damaged ship back to Faerûn, where it crashes. As the protagonist searches for a way to remove their parasite, they encounter other survivors of the wreck, all likewise implanted with tadpoles: the githyanki fighter Lae'zel, the Sharran cleric Shadowheart, the high elf vampire Astarion, the human wizard Gale, the human warlock Wyll, and the tiefling barbarian Karlach. The plot of the first act revolves around numerous avenues of potential cures, such as Ethel, a malevolent hag; Halsin, archdruid of the local druid grove; a goblin priestess serving the nascent "deity" called the Absolute; or the renowned bard Volo who all attempt unsuccessfully to provide a cure. The main plot element is the fate of the Emerald Grove, where local druids and the refugees of the town of Elturel face off against the goblin horde from the desecrated Selunite temples nearby. The party almost becomes overwhelmed by a psychic force as they close in on the temple, but are relieved by the mysterious prism in Shadowheart's possession. Once the protagonists carry out either the sacking or the saving of the grove, they're presented an itinerary to reach Moonrise Towers, where a cure may be found - for this, they are to travel overland, either through the mountains or through the Underdark, the subterranean networks beneath the Temple of Selune.

Act II
The second act mainly centres around the Moonrise Towers and its surrounding lands. Once a peaceful land under the stewardship of the Thorm family, the fields are now covered by an unnatural and sentient darkness that can only be penetrated through magical means. The only sanctuary is a small tavern called the Last Light, held by a group of tiefling refugees, Flaming Fist conscripts and Harpers, led by Jaheira - one of the companions of the original Baldur's Gate titles. The protection of the tavern is afforded by a Selunite cleric named Isobel, who also happens to be the resurrected daughter of the reigning lord of Moonrise, General Ketheric Thorm. Isobel's premature demise apparently led her father to abandon Selune, first turning to Shar and later to Myrkul, who enshrines him as his Chosen and permeates the curse upon the land. The protagonist scours the depths of the Moonrise in pursuit of the "Nightsong", an artefact also mentioned by mercenaries in Act I. The depths of the Towers house a vast temple to Shar, eventually leading to Shadowfell, Shar's personal domain where Nightsong -not an artefact, but an aasimar named Dame Aylin- is imprisoned. Ketheric is revealed to have trapped Aylin, a daughter of the moon goddess Selune, and used her as an engine of his immortality, as well as a ritual piece for followers of Shar. The player is given the choice to slay or spare the Nightsong, which vastly changes the plot further down the line. The party ultimately raids the Moonrise Towers to confront Ketheric, as well as his cohorts - Orin the Red, the Chosen of Bhaal and Enver Gortash, the Chosen of Bane. The triumvirate collectively controls the Absolute, which is revealed to be an elder brain, the ultimate form of the illithid race, bent to their will by the use of each chosen's netherstones and a mysterious crown adorning the gargantuan brain. Orin and Gortash depart with the elder brain, while Ketheric remains to fight the party. Following his death, the protagonist claims their netherstone while the Absolutist army billeting around the forest departs for Baldur's Gate, clearing the way for the protagonist.

Act III
The act is divided between Baldur's Gate proper and the outlying suburb of Rivington. The main plot revolves around the two remaining antagonists' attempts to pit the protagonist against the other. This is also where companions find closure for their personal quests, such as Wyll and his estranged father, Shadowheart and her Sharran enclave or Lae'zel's dissent against her queen; Astarion's vampiric master, and Karlach's confrontation with Gortash. Early on, an ambush by a githyanki raid reveals that the protagonist's so-called Dream Visitor is in fact a visage taken by a renegade illithid called the Emperor, who resides within the Astral Prism and oversees the imprisonment of a powerful githyanki - Orpheus, the son of the first queen of the Githyanki. Orpheus is revealed as the source of psionic resistance the players possess against the Absolute and the Emperor has been apparently leveraging this in his favour by keeping him in suspended animation. The protagonist eventually faces off against the remaining Chosens of the Dead Three, assembling the netherstones to subdue the Elder Brain. Despite the preparations, the Elder Brain almost overpowers the protagonist and the party is rescued in the last moment by the Emperor. Depending on various player choices prior to the finale, the playthrough differs slightly. If the protagonist has a falling-out with the Emperor over the imprisonment of Orpheus, the latter resigns to his fate and joins the Absolute. Ultimately the netherstones require an illithid wielder to be effective, so either Orpheus, Karlach, or the player character willingly morph into a mindflayer to see the mission through. The final battle takes place above the Elder Brain, after which the protagonist can choose to either betray their comrades and rule as the Absolute or kill it and every tadpole alongside it, ending the cult forever.