It appears that Baldur’s Gate 3 has hit the end of the road. The game’s “Final Patch” released on April 15, with much fanfare from both players and critics alike. In celebration of its addition, a new animated short was released, once again starring the original voice actors from the game, including Neil Newbon, Devora Wilde, Jennifer English, Tim Downie, Theo Solomon, and Samantha Beart. Titled “Baldur’s Gate 3: The Final Patch,” the short was a fitting conclusion not just to the animated short series, but to Baldur’s Gate 3 as a whole.
But the expansion nature of the Final Patch, also known as Patch 8, has excited fans. Of course, the Final Patch added many necessary bug fixes to Baldur’s Gate 3, but players had plenty of new content to be excited about.
Baldur's Gate 3's New Monk Subclass Gives an Overlooked Item Its Due
The Way of the Drunken Master Monk in particular looks like it will provide a unique playthrough for Baldur's Gate 3 players.
Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8's Content
The biggest addition from Baldur’s Gate 3’s Final Patch is the game’s new cross-play ability. While Baldur’s Gate 3 has had multiplayer for quite some time, multiplayer functionality was not possible across consoles and PC. Now players can join a multiplayer party regardless of what device they are playing the hit RPG on. Cross-play extends into mods, though the update’s patch notes are quick to remind players that any lobbies planning on using mods will need the same version of mods installed for each player. Additionally, cross-play requires players to have their platform account connected to their Larian account.
Another Baldur’s Gate 3 non-story-related addition includes a new Photo Mode. Players can now take photos of their party and decorate these pictures with themed stickers. According to the patch notes, these photos can be found under screenshots for PC and Mac and media galleries for console players. The game’s modding toolkit has also received an update, allowing mod authors to explore partial level editing. New information has been added to Baldur’s Gate 3’s Modding Guideline for any mod authors eager to explore the new feature.
But the addition that most players clamored over in the Final Patch is Baldur’s Gate 3’s 12 new subclasses. Spells, cantrips, and subclasses present in Dungeons & Dragons that had yet to have their time in the sun in Baldur’s Gate 3 finally made their way into the game, including the College of Glamour Bard subclass and spells like Toll the Dead, Booming Blade, and Staggering Smite. This update is certainly a high note for Baldur’s Gate 3 to go out on, but it’s likely that the game will maintain cultural relevance for quite some time.
The Final Patch May Incentivize Gamers to Finally Hop on the BG3 Bandwagon
Not only will the many accolades that Baldur’s Gate 3 has received continue to bolster the game as one of the best RPGs in recent memory, but the game’s player base and fan community are powerful. However, this Final Patch update could easily be yet another avenue for the game to extend its reach. The marketing of Patch 8 as Baldur’s Gate 3’s Final Patch may push gamers who have found the game too daunting to finally give it a shot. After all, there are completionist gamers out there who refuse to play titles until they are deemed finished.
As mentioned, Patch 8 also introduces new subclasses to Baldur’s Gate 3. Dungeons & Dragons players who have been interested in the game may feel more incentivized to purchase it now that these new roles have been added. Of course, these are circumstantial reasons, but the scope of Baldur’s Gate 3 may have finally hit its limits with Patch 8, making it feel, well, final, rather than an exponentially growing game. There have been cases where developers or studios walk back on their “Final Patch,” eventually adding more content to a title. It’s likely that Baldur’s Gate 3 will have bug fixes down the line, but considering Patch 8’s marketing push, it seems that the Final Patch may be just that.
Baldur's Gate 3
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Engine
- Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Full cross-platform play.
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG
