Why is Baldur's Gate 3 suddenly getting review bombed?

Larian Studios' latest fantasy role-playing release, Baldur's Gate 3, is easily one of the best-reviewed titles of 2023. In fact, with its current Metacritic score, Baldur's Gate 3 stands as one of the top-rated games of all time, which is beyond impressive considering it's only available for PC, with the PS5 version scheduled to release later this year.

However, it seems the game, much like any other high-profile modern release, isn't immune to review bombing. Despite being unanimously hailed for its quality, Baldur's Gate 3 was recently subjected to user review bombing, which is both surprising and confounding.

What's even more surprising is that most of the negative reviews don't pertain to its gameplay, narrative, or any of the other aspects that usually serve as the core metrics of assessment. Instead, most of the negative reviews are focused on external factors, with some meant to reduce the game's overall score.

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Baldur's Gate 3 is getting review bombed on Metacritic for being faithful to Dungeons & Dragons roots, among other things

While Baldur's Gate 3 is undeniably a good game, it does have a few shortcomings. However, the users allegedly "review bombing" the game did not mention any of the real issues with the RPG, instead focusing on extraneous factors.

User reviews on Metacritic (Image via Metacritic)

Most of the negative reviews either concern the game pandering to players outside the Dungeon & Dragons sphere, making it much more accessible to newcomers, or the strict adherence it exhibits towards its D&D roots.

There are also a few users who rated the game a "0 out of 10" just because it requires a secondary launcher outside of Steam. Some have also mentioned their disappointment at the visuals, which according to them, "looks like PlayStation 2 graphics despite requiring a souped-up laptop to play."

And to top it all off, some users cite the freedom of choice and expression Baldur's Gate 3 allows in its moment-to-moment gameplay as the reason for their negative review. They also mention the mechanic of having romantic relationships with NPCs regardless of their s*xual orientation to be forced "woke" propaganda.

However, those users fail to realize that Larian Studios' latest RPG never enforces romantic choices, providing complete freedom in party recruitment.

While criticism towards a game is always valid, as long as it's constructive, review bombing and giving a scathing assessment with the intent of gnawing at its Metascore is never justified.