What are the best gameslike Baldur's Gate 3? One of the best RPGsin recent memory, Larian Studios' BG3 surprised many with its nuanced, epic story of Cthulhu-like monsters infecting a party of memorable and diverse heroes with interdimensional magic worms. Based on the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the third entry in this storied series, the computer role-playing game– or CRPG– provided dozens of hours of tactical spell-slinging, dice rolling, dialogue navigating, and gorgeous fantasy world exploring fun. And there's a genuine possibility that if you played more than once with so many branching narratives and awesome classes to try, you're likely hitting the hundreds of hours.
PK called it an instant classic in our Baldur's Gate 3 review. But what if you finished exploring Baldur's Gate, its surrounding areas, and another plane of existence or two besides? While there's nothingthat, in our opinion, does it quite likeBG3, there are more than a handful of games that check the most important boxes: great companion characters, exciting worlds to explore, and deep RPG game combat mechanics that we'll sure you'll love almost as much as adventuring through Faerun.
The best games like BG3 in 2024 are:
Baldur's Gate 1 Enhanced Edition
While not BioWare's first game, Baldur's Gate was the RPG that thrust the developer into mainstream success. The Dungeons and Dragons ruleset was well-trodden territory on PC at that time, especially the Forgotten Realms, but no game had captured the essence of adventure. As the orphan Ward of the mage Gorion, you gather a band of allies to find and kill the man who murdered your mentor while also investigating the region's Iron Crisis.
You'll find many familiar faces here, both good and evil, depending on your choices within Baldur's Gate 3. Some are faithful companions in both games, such as Jaheira and Minsc, while other former companions are now in positions of power that you interact with during the story. While it's showing its age a bit, Baldur's Gate is still an unforgettable tale worth playing, and the Enhanced Edition is the most accessible way to do it. As a bonus, you get the original Tales of the Sword Coast expansion as part of the package, and there's a separate brand-new DLC expansion: Siege of Dragonspear.
Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition
Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn continues the story where the first game left off, as the hero and their companions are captured and experimented on by the crazed wizard Irenicus. As the party emerges from the dungeon, the Cowled Wizards appear to arrest both your captor and your childhood friend, Imoen, for unsanctioned use of magic and teleported away without a hint of where they're going. It's up to you and your freed companions to save Imoen and to punish Irenicus for his actions against you.
The second game in the series perhaps had the better story of the two DnD games, but it also polishes up some less refined mechanics of the first. It's less frustrating than the original and provides the ability to utilize a more strategic approach to combat. The Throne of Bhaal expansion is also presentinthe Enhanced Edition, so it's the optimal way to play this classic RPG.
Divinity: Original Sin
Before Larian Studios picked up the license for Baldur's Gate 3, they made a handful of games in the Divinity series of RPGs. It wasn't until 2014's Divinity Original Sinthat they achieved worldwide critical and commercial success, thanks partly to its stellar turn-based combat and vibrant worlds full of humor. Sound familiar?
You start by creating two protagonists, known as Source Hunters, who seek to eradicate a dangerous type of magic. Upon receiving the orders from their superiors to investigate the murder of a town councilor in the port town of Cyseal, they find it under siege. Their journey to follow the Couduit's trail that the Sourcerer leaves behind will take them across the world, from forests filled with fairies to mines that are the home of indestructible undead warriors.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
While both games are great, you don't need to play the first Divinity: Original Sin to enjoy the second, as it's set 1,200 years later. While the first game had you hunting down Sourcerers, the second casts you as one of them as they're imprisoned and sent toFort Joy, an island owned by the Divine Order. However, their trip is cut short by a Kraken attacking their ship, but they are saved by a mysterious force that calls them “Godwoken.” After waking up on the island, they soon escape with some companions and embark on a mission to discover the Godwoken's powers and what it all means.
With combat loosely based on D&D systems,Divinity Original Sin 2instead allotsa certain amount of action points for characters to use up each turn in combat. At the same time, you'll find your party must rely on the environment and elements more than in Baldur's Gate 3. Spilling oil on the ground to trip up foes, igniting it to incarnate them, and putting it out with a water spell to create a defensive fog, for example. And for those who enjoyed playing Baldur's Gate 3 with a friend, both Divinity games allow you to do so as well.
The best part, however, is how Larian allows you to break the game: want to spread your characters out and use teleport scrolls to chuck that ultra-hard boss into a distant pool of lava? Sure. Want to fill a chest with hundreds of portraits of one of the game's villains, making the chest weigh a ton, and then throw that heavy chest with telekinesis to one shot of said villain? Be Larian's guest.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
If you haven't already played the Mass Effect trilogy – what's wrong with you? While it combines third-person shooting and heavy RPG mechanics rather than traditional isometric CRPG combat, no other game on this list rivals Baldur's Gate 3 for a diverse cast of compelling companions, side characters, and the most insidious villains.
Mass Effect Legendary Editionputs all three games together in an updated, convenient package. Sure, the first Mass Effect is a bit dated gameplay-wise, but the Legendary Edition provides many improvements that make it more palatable.
There are also various Mass Effect Legendary Edition romance options, so if you like Gale, you'll love Garrus. If Shadowheart is your virtual girl, you might replace her with Liara or Tali. BioWare– yes, the same developers as the original Baldur's Gates– put together one of the best casts in both sci-fi and RPG history.
Pillars of Eternity
The first Pillars of Eternity, developed in 2015 by Obsidian Entertainment – yes, the people behind Fallout: New Vegas– marked the return of CRPGs along with Divinity: Original Sin. It plays remarkably similar to Baldur's Gate 3, though its battle systems and character creation differ more fromDnDrather than make slight alterations.
It, too, has a great cast of companions that join the player character, known as the Watcher, with their own stories to unravel: Durance, the fiery war priest, and the Grieving Mother, a strange woman that other people cannot usually see, stand out among them. So does the world of Eora and its many peoples and conflicts, with its soul manipulation and sad*stic gods.
Pillars of Eternity is one of the few games we have ever given a perfect score, just like Baldur's Gate 3. If you want to see why, read our Pillars of Eternity review. It wasn't just our reviewer who loved it; it was also one of the best games of 2015.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Upon Eothas, the god of light and rebirth's violent revival leaves the Watcher with part of their soul missing and on the brink of death, they're contacted by Berath, the god of death, with a proposition: pursue Eothas and find out what he's planning and Berath will restore the Watcher's soul.
The sequel picks up five years after the first game's events, continuing the stories of most companions and introducing seafaring and island exploration.Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfireisalso one of the rare examples of a pirate game that doesn't feel shoehorned in the slightest.
This new sub-theme makes itstand out from the crowded RPG scene. Sure, it still has everything that made the first game such a blast, including companions worth caring about, a fantastic story, and all sorts of wonderful magic skills to blast away those landlubbers. Despite our Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire review not giving it full marks, it's just as worthwhile an adventure to undertake as the first game.
Wasteland 3
While the recent Fallout games have shifted toward a first-person perspective, Wasteland 3 maintains the isometric view and turn-based combat of a post-apocalyptic Colorado. Taking control of two rangers after an ambush wipes out your entire squad, you're soon embroiled in a conflict between the Patriarch and his three children. In true RPG fashion, the choices you make drastically alter how that conflict plays out. Surprisingly nuanced with some great combat to boot, you're only really missing some deep companions to grow to love.
While Wasteland 3 has connections to the previous two games, it largely stands on its own, meaning you don't have to sink hundreds of hours to enjoy the third entry. That said, a remake of the 1988 original, Wasteland Remastered, came out in 2020, and Wasteland 2: Director's Cut came out in 2014 and is still playable.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
After slaying a bandit leader terrorizing the local area, a noble proclaims them to be a baron/baroness of the Stolen Lands. As the new ruler, you must deal with trolls, an ancient lich, and people turning into beasts without warning.Above all else, however,is the threat of the neighboring kingdom, and as the player discovers more about these threats, they discover they all come from the same evil source.
The Pathfinder tabletop roleplaying games – for those unaware – are based on a modified version of D&D. Pathfinder takes numerous liberties from it, soPathfinder Kingmakerplays both similarly and quite differently than something like Baldur's Gate 3.
These games were released before Larian's hit but didn't receive as much fanfare, mainly because of the high learning curve of the Pathfinder system and the hit-and-miss writing. Kingmaker includes a rather in-depth Kingdom management mechanic, where you protect the town from invading bandits, enemy armies, and monsters.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous begins as the player character survives a demonic attack before discovering that they have mythical powers. These newfound abilities are the key to driving back the enemy, and so the player is thus appointed the Commander of the Fifth Crusade by the local royalty.
While Kingmaker has its kingdom management, Wrath of the Righteousopts for a more military-focusedCrusade mode. Luckily, you can automate this process if you'd rather go on exploring the world and tactical battles.
The series mostly comes recommended as a duo rather than a single gameplay experience, so the main question you may be asking is, why bother playing either? Both Pathfinder games feature a staggering amount of exploration and intense combat– perfect for those who want more action and less dialogue.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium is the game for you if you want more dialogue, less action, and some philosophical hilarity set in one of the most unique worlds ever put into videogame form. Waking up as a detective with substance-related amnesia, you are tasked with solving a murder with the help of Kim Kitsuragi, another detective with his laces tied a bit more straight.
Unlike Baldur's Gate 3, all ‘combat' is handled through skill checks and dialogue trees, but the world of Elysium itself and the characters that house it are some of the most memorable and bizarre in video game history. It's a game that requires methodical patience to see your amnesiac detective solve the murder as he learns more about himself, stumbling through encounters and trying to ignore his seemingly sentient necktie;if you invest in the Inland Empire skill, that is.
If you enjoyed Baldur's Gate 3's dialogue and the humor often found within, you'd be doing yourself a disservice to skip Disco Elysium. There's a reason many claim it's one of the best games ever made.
Shadowrun Hong Kong
A futuristic take on the genre, you can't go wrong with any of the games in the Shadowrun CRPG Trilogy: Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun Dragonfall, and Shadowrun Hong Kong. As each game isn't dependent upon another, Shadowrun Hong Kong is the best way to experience the cyberpunk-and-magic mashup that makes up the base of Shadowrun's story and combat. Once again, Shadowrun is a game that lacks memorable companion characters, but if Baldur's Gate 3's fantasy game aesthetic wore you out, and you'd like something a bit more sci-fi, Shadowrun's action-point based combat will scratch that cybernetic itch.
Shadowrun Hong Kong also features an incredibly in-depth level editor, which Baldur's Gate 3 does not have, so if you want to create mini-campaigns to play with friends, this is the game for you.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister
You may not have heard of Solasta: Crown of the Magister, but aside from lacking a deep narrative, it shares many similarities with Baldur's Gate 3, mostly in how it also bases its combat system on the D&D game‘s 5e.
Instead of massive, predetermined maps to explore, Solasta features a bit of resource management as your highly customizable party of four sets out to explore a world still recovering from a cataclysm a thousand years prior. You select where to head on the world map, and if you have enough rations to reach it, you'll arrive and be able to explore some concise maps filled with foes to defeat in grid-based combat . Be warned, random encounters will often trigger.
If you're itching for more character-building and combat instead of story and exploration, Solasta is for you – especially with all the added DLC. Keep an eye on what developer Tactical Adventures does next, as Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a great first effort.
These are the best CRPG (plus Mass Effect) series, like Baldur's Gate 3, that have had relatively recent re-releases and are easy to find on PC. As the genre continues to enter what looks like its second Golden Age thanks to Larian Studios, expect this list to grow in the coming years. You can also expect your spare time to vaporize like it just got hit by a Disintegrate spell cast by Gale.
But maybe you'd rather just play Baldur's Gate 3 again — if so, take a look at the best Baldur's Gate 3 mods available to make your next playthrough more unique. If you've still not scratched the itch, we've also got the best RPGs on PC, discovered through many hundreds of hours of gameplay.
Additional entries by Dave Irwin
