Baldur’s Gate 3 and Every Best RPG Winner from The Game Awards’ History Explained

During 2023’s Game Awards, “Best Roleplaying Game” was one of many categories clustered together, with Larian Studios not even getting to give a speech about winner Baldur’s Gate 3. However, the category is one that has been around since the beginning of the Game Awards nearly ten years ago, and Baldur’s Gate 3 joins an illustrious group that includes entries from the Final Fantasy and The Witcher series as well as multiple previous Game of the Year winners.

All Best RPG Winners At The Game Awards

Best Roleplaying Game was introduced as one of several genre-focused categories at the original Game Awards in 2014. Other genres celebrated included Best Action Adventure Game, Best Shooter, Best Family Game, and Best Sports/Racing Game. Best Shooter was later discontinued, while two other genre categories, Best Sim/Strategy Game and Best Action Game, were added in 2015. All Best RPG winners at The Game Awards are listed below:

• 2014: Dragon Age: Inquisition
• 2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• 2016: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine
• 2017: Persona 5
• 2018: Monster Hunter: World
• 2019: Disco Elysium
• 2020: Final Fantasy 7 Remake
• 2021: Tales of Arise
• 2022: Elden Ring
• 2023: Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 is the fourth game to win both Best RPG and Game of the Year, after Dragon Age Inquisition, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Elden Ring. Many of the RPG winners were nominated for Game of the Year, but did not win. Other highly acclaimed RPGs that were nominated in various years but did not win include Cyberpunk 2077, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Fallout 4, and multiple entries in the Xenoblade Chronicles series. The games that were nominated but did not win in 2023 were Final Fantasy 16, Lies of P, Sea of Stars, and Starfield.

Best RPG Winners Show RPGs Are About More Than Combat

One common trend found in many of the Best RPG winners at The Game Awards is a focus on social elements and relationship building, rather than simply exploring the world and defeating enemies. Many of the winners, 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3 included, are known for their compelling characters and the unique ways in which players are able to interact with them.

The Witcher 3 Introduced A Living World

The Witcher 3 made headlines when it won Best RPG in 2015 (as well as Game of the Year) and then immediately scored another win in the same category the following year for its Blood and Wine DLC. To date, Blood and Wine remains the only DLC or expansion to win the award. One of the many aspects of the game praised by critics was how the characters’ reactions to Geralt were informed by Witchers’ negative reputations, and that they could gradually open up to him as the player completed quests and engaged in dialogue. Even many minor characters were memorable due to the rich dialogue – despite Geralt’s taciturn nature, the game was full of conversations ranging from lighthearted and fun to heartwarming or even deeply terrifying.

Disco Elysium Put Dialogue At The Center

2019 winner Disco Elysium is still unique within the RPG world with its heavy focus on dialogue and interacting with characters to unravel the game’s many mysteries. The game uses dialogue-based skill checks and lets players specialize in a variety of areas, such as Drama, Logic, Empathy, Authority, and even Savoir Faire. The result was a game that effectively brought many of the mechanics of tabletop roleplaying into the video game space, an example which Baldur’s Gate 3 followed to great success.

Many Best RPG Winners Have Let Players Fall In Love

Another element that is present in many of The Game Awards’ Best RPG winners is romance. The very first winner, Dragon Age: Inquisition, was praised for the sheer number of characters players could fall for and develop a relationship with, including multiple options for queer relationships. Several other winners have featured romance as a key element, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Persona 5, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. 2023 winner Baldur’s Gate 3 follows that trend, offering a number of characters for players to romance as they travel through the Forgotten Realms. The game was praised for its approach to romance, including allowing any character to be romanced by a player of any gender expression.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Learns Much From Previous Winners

Although it might not be as fiendishly difficult as 2022 winner Elden Ring (unless one plays the recently released ultra-difficult Honour Mode), Baldur’s Gate 3 is an excellent blend of what made previous Best RPG winners so great, while also adding elements that make it feel fresh and new within a well-established genre. Strong character stories are paired with intriguing quests and a classic turn-based combat system that is spruced up by the large number of available race and class options.

The game sets itself apart by effectively adapting the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing system for the video game format. It is far from the first DND video game released, but it makes good use of classic DND elements like social skill checks, multi-classing and sub-classing, and using character backgrounds to empower players. One element for which Baldur’s Gate 3 has been consistently praised is its replayability, with player choices allowing for multiple branching plots and different quest and character story resolutions. No two playthroughs of Baldur’s Gate 3 feel exactly the same, which helps make it truly unique among RPGs.

Best Roleplaying Game is one of six awards won by Baldur’s Gate 3 during the 2023 Game Awards. The others include Best Community Support, Best Multiplayer, Best Performance (for Neil Newbon as Astarion), the Players’ Choice Award and Game of the Year. Its Best RPG win is particularly well-deserved for standing out as an excellent example of one of gaming’s most popular and beloved genres.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Franchise

Baldur’s Gate

Released

August 3, 2023

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

30 Hours

Metascore

96

Split Screen Orientation

Vertical Only

Number of Players

1-4

PS Plus Availability

N/A

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 Players