Here we have two games I’ve devoted most of my video game time to in the past couple of months, one of which happens to be the consensus Game of the Year for 2023. Baldur’s Gate 3‘s reputation precedes itself: a sweeping RPG made with the Dungeons & Dragons RPG system most of us are at least rudimentarily familiar with. Balatro on the other hand, is a sort of solitaire poker game with 300 different jokers that can affect the game and your score in myriad ways. These games are vastly different but I think they say a lot about the hobby and its fans, and those conclusions are a mix of good and bad.
Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) is a Western RPG fan’s wet dream. It plays like a D&D campaign brought to life on the latest video game hardware. The world is vast and detailed, with many races and factions all interacting to weave a complex narrative that suspends disbelief and feels completely organic and believable. I like the characters, the gameplay and the game world. What troubles me is that I struggle to answer the following: What does BG3 do that’s new?
This might seem like a crazy question considering that there has not been a game in the last few years that has been as unanimously enjoyed as BG3. Why rock the boat when we’re all having fun? I’ve had dozens of hours of entertainment with the game so far and I’m still in Act II. I guess I’m just surprised at how little it differs from countless games we’ve already played. It’s a top down RPG where you gather a party of your choice, collect and manage oodles of equipment that are almost overbearing. You interact with anyone and everyone, often with interesting results. You battle monsters and cast magic.
My intention is not to minimize the staggering amount of work put into the game. I can’t even imagine writing the entirety of this game and then putting it all together so that it made sense, let alone the rest of its development (the voice recordings alone…..my god). It’s also quite obviously the newest RPG displaying the genre at its current pinnacle and there is a lot to be said for that. Still, there’s no denying that the essence of this game is a top-down RPG that plays like D&D with no notable innovations. Fun or not, I’m just not sure it’s the game I would prefer to hang the industry’s hat on as the best it has to offer. In short, it’s a great game that feels exactly like other games I’ve already played.
Balatro, on the other hand, takes rogue-likes and deck-builders in a new direction. It builds on the traditional game of poker with hundreds of Jokers that can influence the game and help your score. You can also add powerful playing cards with additional abilities. By increasing the chips earned, your multiplier or how much money you make each round you can put together a strategized deck that focuses on some very unorthodox hands that go well beyond what you would see with a standardized deck. It is the definition of an indie darling: low-fi, unique and comparatively inexpensive ($14.99).
Is Balatro better than BG3? That’s a matter of opinion. Why is BG3 so much more popular though? It should be noted that Balatro is enjoying massive success and for good reason, so this is not as much of a David vs. Goliath matchup as some might position it as. At any rate, BG3 has been the multiplatform smash hit of the last couple of years for many reasons. It’s world is vast and detailed. I was consistently impressed by the different locales my party traveled through and the countless and organic conversations I had. I have yet to finish my first playthrough but the consensus seems to be that a second playthrough is typically very different, and I can see why.
I’m much more interested in Balatro though. I’m certainly in the minority but I also know I’m not alone. If you have an acumen for poker or have been interested in learning, this game may grab you. I would probably recommend learning more standard poker games before playing this. That is my only hard criticism. If you’re not already familiar with the game of poker, I don’t think Balatro does anything to make you want to. I suppose it’s not different than learning how to play Sabaac in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or Gwent in The Witcher 3. Poker does lack the intrigue of a fictional card game though, so I still view it as a small barrier to entry. If you can clear that one hurdle though, you should get over 100 hours out of both games.
Don’t let its lo-fi aesthetic or normal deck of cards fool you. Balatro delivers replay value as well as any game in recent memory.