Baldur's Gate 3: Deluxe Edition

Data on disc: 119GB, 2 discs


Modes: Performance mode at 60 fps with dynamic resolution or Quality mode at 4K 30 fps

Game version:

The PS5 menu states version 1.005.602 but the in game menu states v4.1.1.4593422 which means it’s a build that sits somewhere between patch 5 and 6. More specifically between hotfix 16 and 17 which both got released mid January of 2024. This means any content that got added after January does require an update.

Playthrough:

Played for 102 hours in performance mode. Completed every quest that came upon my path. But it’s impossible to complete everything the game has to offer in a single playthrough.

Bugs encountered in chronological order:

*Disclaimer: spoilers ahead*

-The game suffers from constant screen tearing when playing in performance mode. Running the game in quality mode gets rid of the issue.

- During the cutscenes where Lae’zel lies into the zaith'isk machine in the Githyanki creche (act 1), when reloading saves to retry the dice checks, the visuals glitched out. Reloading the save again fixes the issue.

-Encountered a semi-gamebreaking glitch in act 2. During the Balthazar fight if shadowheart is in your party but dies and isn’t revived before dealing the final blow to Balthazar and speaking to the nightsong she will not have a say in whether the Nightsong lives or dies. If you leave the Shadowfell and revive her outside it will lock-out all her dialogue options.

She will only say the “I have failed lady Shar” line no matter what. You can’t progress her quest or romance anymore nor remove her from the party. Luckily this can be fixed by quite literally knocking her back into alignment. First you need to make sure Nightsong is in your camp. Then travel back to the shadowfell with shadowheart and have her travel through the exit portal. This will trigger Shadowheart to think you’ve betrayed her by not letting her decide over Nightsong’s fate. She will permanently leave the party unless during this conversation you switch to another character and kill her. After reviving her again she’s back to being friends as if nothing happened and all her dialogue and quest options will be back.

-The Shadowheart glitch isn’t permanent unless you keep in mind a few things. Leaving her in camp will trigger her leaving the party permanently again. Killing and reviving her again fixes this. When long resting at the camp Shadowheart will disconnect from the party. You need to make sure you speak to her and make her join the party after every long rest. If you don’t do this and leave the camp she’ll eventually be angry again once you return to camp thus repeating the process. This effectively means it’s better to always have her in your party if you want to make sure she doesn’t leave.

-The game suffers from (sometimes severe) pop-in, this is especially bad during act 3 where the city buildings sometimes don’t load in properly after fast traveling.

-Character models of NPC’s can also suffer from pop-in. Armour textures or facial hair can take a while to load in during act 3 especially. Also encountered 2 NPC’s in the upper city with broken facial features during act 3.

-In some battles the AI can take a bit long to calculate its next move. This was especially bad during the ‘investigate the suspicious toys’ quest in act 3. One of the enemies took forever to execute its actions. This issue also occurred during the first attempt at the final boss fight.

-Encountered two instances of Jaheira’s whip animation glitching out (polygon warping) during 2 separate fights in act 3.

-Encountered an issue where Jaheira got stuck in the exit of the valve gate when in owlbear form during the Minsc fight.

-The ‘Save Vanra’ quest in act 3 needs to be completed in a very specific order, otherwise you won’t get the Duellist's Prerogative rapier as a reward. The quest doesn’t make this clear at all and it seems like a glitch.

-During act 3 the ‘completed quests’ log briefly disappeared from the journal.

-Character models can sometimes jitter a little during late game cutscenes.

-During the final boss fight the AI suddenly became completely braindead and always decided to skip turns after calculating its move abnormally long.

-One of the tentacles during the final boss fight glitched out. (Polygon warping like Jaheira’s whip).

-The Tav’s character model disappeared when talking to the owlbear in the epilogue.


Overall:

The game runs pretty stable during act 1 and 2. Most issues occur during act 3 which is definitely the least polished act.

The game has some issues, the Shadowheart glitch during act 2 being the worst offender which can ruin a playthrough if the player doesn’t realize what’s going on and “fixes” it.

Considering the sheer size and scope of this the glitches can be forgiven in my opinion. I wouldn’t say it’s a polished disc build but still very competent nonetheless.