Although Baldur's Gate 3 has distinguished itself as one of the biggest and best releases of 2023, the game still makes a number of notable missteps, which become increasingly common as the end of the game draws closer. Several factors leave the third act of Baldur's Gate 3 feeling significantly less polished and cohesive than the content preceding it in ways that can end up being disappointing. Lackluster quests, reduced reactivity, and an increase in performance problems and bugs all contribute a third act that, for some, can feel like a step back from the rest of the game leading up to it.
Of course, unsatisfying endings or messy finales are a common problem for many games, especially long-running RPGs - with Mass Effect 3 being perhaps the most well-known example. Notably, Larian Studios' previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2, also suffered from this problem on release, with its third act in the city of Arx being a noticeable drop-off in quality from the rest of the game - an issue that would eventually have to be rectified in the Definitive Edition rerelease. While BG3 's late game may not suffer quite as badly as some of the worst offenders in the genre, however, it is still a significant step back from the quality of the first two acts.
The Third Act Of Baldur's Gate 3 Suffers From Technical & Narrative Issues
Finally reaching the titular city of Baldur's Gate is something that BG3 builds up to steadily as it progresses, but once the party arrives there, a number of technical, progression, and narrative problems hold the experience back. While the third act has many of the game's best moments and set pieces, they can often be let down by a disappointing lack of reactivity, disted quests, and general issues with questlines breaking or not progressing correctly. Cut content and missing features from Baldur's Gate 3 also contribute to the third act feeling incomplete, leading to an ending that some may find lacking.
Performance & Gameplay Suffer In Act 3
Although Baldur's Gate 3 is actively receiving updates to fix bugs and technical issues, with the game's first major patch in particular addressing a huge amount of issues, its third act still suffers significantly more from performance issues, bugs, and broken questlines. The Outer Roads and Lower City of Baldur's Gate are both ambitious locations, with large crowds of NPCs that make it truly feel like an inhabited city - unfortunately, however, this comes at a significant cost, as most NPCs that can be talked to will only have a few throwaway lines, and amount of people on screen can significantly impact performance.
Progressing quests and storylines in the third act can also be significantly less open-ended in the third act, sometimes having only a single "correct" way to resolve them. Freeing the prisoners from the Iron Throne, for example, requires finding a submersible to gain access to the prison, where Gortash will unavoidably set it to explode if the party proceeds, forcing a sequence for freeing the prisoners before the prison is totally destroyed, with no alternative solution. Compounding the issue, it's made relatively unclear that there will still be chance to rescue the prisoners, which might cause some to turn back and search for a different approach where there is none.
Likewise, some of the third act's side quests can end up feeling particularly shallow, having little effect on the story or the world and offering little in the way of consequences or rewards. "Stop the Presses," for example, involves preventing the Baldur's Mouth newspaper from publishing a slanderous article about the party, which would supposedly tarnish the group's reputation in the city. However, successfully sabotaging the paper or simply just ignoring it leads to almost no meaningful difference in how the party treated - if the quest is simply ignored, then random, minor NPCs may comment negatively on the party, but no other consequences come up.
BG3's Narrative Is Disted & Unsatisfying In The Third Act
Outside of gameplay, a few compounding factors can also lead to the third act of Baldur's Gate 3 being narratively unsatisfying. Many companion storylines, for example, are placed oddly out-of-focus, or otherwise disted from the rest of the narrative, with Halsin and Karlach in particular having little to do in the city. Even for companions whose storylines culminate in Baldur's Gate, such as Astarion and Shadowheart, the quests can feel disconnected from the main plot, playing out more like large side quests. Late-game additions, such as Jaheira and Minsc, have more to do, but players may not be willing to swap their established party out.
Astarion's quest, as an example, leads towards a confrontation with Cazador, which involves finding and fighting through the vampire's mansion, leading to some impressive and interesting encounters. While the quest itself, Astarion's story of finally breaking free of his old, abusive master, and the decision of whether to let him ascend to the same status as a full vampire, are all compelling, the quest is strangely free of connections to anything else in the city. Cazador has practically no presence in any other part of the act, only ever being mentioned by the Gur, making him, and Astarion's quest by extension, feel sidelined.
Capping off the third act's problems, the game's overall ending is disappointingly short and distinctly lacking in depth. Unlike most other RPGs of a similar nature to Baldur's Gate 3, the ending lacks even simple ending slides to show the state of the world and important characters after the end of the game, with companions simply receiving short farewells directly after the battle and some small scenes to show relationships with romanced companions or Karlach's return to Avernus, if she was convinced to go back. With both of the first two acts having received larger conclusions to big encounters, the shallow nature of the game's overall ending is unsatisfying overall.
For most of its massive playtime, Baldur's Gate 3 is a truly comprehensive RPG that successfully juggles an overarching plot, smaller character storylines, player choice, and combat encounters. However, although the third act is home to many of the game's best moments, the city of Baldur's Gate can end up feeling disted, frustrating, and buggy, compounded further by the game's unsatisfying conclusion. Hopefully, with further patches or a Definitive Edition release, Baldur's Gate 3 will be able to rectify some of its most glaring issues.
