Shroud explains why he believes Baldur's Gate 3 is "game of the decade," compares it with Starfield's faults

During a livestream on September 7, 2023, Twitch star Michael "Shroud" compared Baldur's Gate 3 to Starfield and explained why he believes the Larian Studios-developed title is the "game of the decade." The streamer commented on the "unfortunate" aspect of Starfield, claiming that players don't have the freedom to approach things and situations in their own way.

Shroud then drew parallels to Baldur's Gate 3, stating that the CPRG (computer role-playing game) allows players to do whatever they want to complete tasks. According to him, he encountered only two instances when the game did not allow him to progress as he desired.

The former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro said:

"The game unfortunately doesn't take itself too deep there. If you're trying to be like, 'Oh, I want to do it this way,' chances are - you can't do it that way. Right? That's why Baldur's Gate 3 is by far the game of the f**king decade because that game is just truly like, 'Oh, you want to do it that way? Yes! Do it that way.'"

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"It's f**king incredible!" - Shroud talks about player freedom in Baldur's Gate 3 while playing Starfield

Shroud continued the discussion by talking about his time playing Baldur's Gate 3. As mentioned earlier, he claimed to have encountered only two instances when the game did not allow him to progress the way he wanted during the 80 hours of playtime.

He said:

"I only ran into, I think, two occasions in my 80 hours of Baldur's Gate where I said, 'I want to do it this way. Oh, I can't.' Two! I only had two situations where that happened. Every other time, I was like, 'Oh, I really want to do it this way.' Well, guess what? You can!"

Timestamp: 01:13:05

The Twitch streamer voiced his admiration for Baldur's Gate 3, adding:

"Baldur's Gate 3, it takes the choice of video games and surpasses everything that I've ever played. It's f**king incredible! It's literally such an incredible, remarkable experience that you'll never forget, playing that f**king game."

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"BG3 ruined Starfield for me in a good way" - Fans react to the streamer's take on the popular video games

Shroud's comparison of the popular games elicited over 250 reactions on the r/LivestreamFail subreddit. According to Redditor u/Jokez4Dayz, Baldur's Gate 3 is a "true" role-playing game:

Redditor u/Tearlilla wished for Baldur's Gate 3 to be named Game of the Year 2023:

Another viewer's comment received over 136 upvotes. In it, they wrote:

"BG3 ruined Starfield for me in a good way. These devs are now going to have to try and compete with BG3 or forever be in its shadow."

Some of the more notable reactions were along these lines:

Shroud completed Starfield's main storyline on September 5, 2023, and called it the "best game ever made" and a work of art. He ultimately gave it a score of 8.5 out of 10.