What makes a game a masterpiece? I’ve been giving this question some thought over the last few months, and Balder’s Gate 3 has been my litmus test to help me answer that question.

Before anything else, let me warn you that Balder’s Gate is a long damn game. Much, much longer than you think. Like, I thought I was wrapping the game up after 40 hours, only to find I was just finishing Act 1, long. And it is filled to the brim with content.

The gameplay side of the game is a little janky, but very deep. You might have seen clips of people pushing an enemy off a ledge or stealing a potion with some clever tricks before an enemy can use it, but that is only scratching the surface. It starts slow, but as you gain levels and unlock abilities, it really picks up, and the options for how to deal with an encounter explode. This stuff is all incredible and worth playing over to see how you can do things differently. Janky, but deep.

The story has its ups and downs. I wasn’t very familiar with the D&D setting before the game, so the giant brains and dimension travel was a surprise. I didn’t feel that worked well in the fantasy setting, but that’s more of a me problem. The flat story beats and one dimensional villains, however, I think weigh down some of the better companion and side quest writing. I had some real up and downs in the story. I am definitely a little down on it compared to others.

The length of the game was a detriment to me. Although it was incredible how events and characters tied to each other, even dozens of hours into the game, there were great lengths that felt more like work than fun.

I really enjoyed my time with Balder’s Gate 3. It is a deep, deep game that rewards smart players with out of the box mechanics. It has some great characters and some terrible villains, and not in the good way. The writing is great, but still feels like it’s missing something.

I don’t think Balder’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece. It’s a Hall of Very Good game. It’s something I would recommend to many, especially fans of the genre. When it’s good, oh baby it’s good, and when it’s bad, well, I could go weeks without thinking about it.

Seriously, it’s a great game. Could use a few more dragons and a few less dungeons though.

I think this might be my favorite game ever. Maybe not the best game ever made, but definitely near the top of a lot of lists, an incredible game and a personal favorite.

Fallout 3 came out in 2007, a stacked year for games. Probably the best year ever for video game releases. Go look at what came out that year. Nuts, right?

Of them all, Fallout 3 stands out to me. The open world genre wasn’t brand new by the time Fallout 3 came out, but it was still growing, and this game felt like a big leap. The loneliness of the wasteland complimented the open world dynamic well, and the use of random, scripted and “missable” mini story beats (like shrines to teddy bears) meant that you were always experiencing something.

The main story is fine. I always really liked the opening sequences with you growing up in the vault as a tutorial system. The majority of it is fine. Not great. Not bad. Of course, these games always shine in the side quests and player generated stories that run alongside the main quest.

Gameplay would be improved considerably with New Vegas and Fallout 4 especially, but it doesn’t hinder Fallout 3 at all. VATS rocks and was such a great inclusion. Still feels so unique to fallout all these years later.

What I like most about Fallout 3 compared to its successors is the atmosphere though. While New Vegas and Fallout 4 had their own vibes that worked, Fallout 3 really felt like his insane mash up of desperation, dark humor, loneliness and THREE DOGG, HOWUUUUUUU.

You know what I’m saying?

Pretty much a masterpiece in my book. Wish you could aim down sights though.

The Last of Us is a masterpiece, through and through. When it was first announced, when the first trailer dropped at one of the last good E3s or wherever, I remember watching it time and time again. I felt like, wow, finally they nailed a zombie game.

When I got my hands on the game, which was the only reason I bought a PlayStation after being a long time Xbox user, I was blown away. My high hopes were met and exceeded.

The story is great. The characters rock. The small story beats you find by reading journals and notes are actually interesting. The gameplay, while shallow in some ways, is fun and engaging.

I was even impressed with the multiplayer. This time frame for games had a lot of tacked-on multiplayer that was generally worth avoiding, but TLOU transitioned their single player gameplay over to multiplayer in a satisfying and enjoyable way. A little cherry on top.

I can’t imagine anyone on this website hasn’t played this game yet, but if you just awoke from a decade long coma and are looking for something special, start here.