Baldur’s Gate 3 vs Diablo 4: which should you play?

Fans of the RPG genre have had a great year for gaming, with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Diablo 4 releasing within a short period of each other. Both games have you face a mysterious threat, with customization options and different classes to provide an experience that is different to what your friends will find.

Diablo 4 was the first of the pair to release on June 5 and was an instant hit, taking just five days to surpass $666 million sales, and has since launched the first of many seasonal updates.

Baldur’s Gate 3 followed on Aug. 3 and made waves of its own, breaking into Steam’s top 10 for all-time top concurrent players in just three days.

But how do the games compare to each other and, if you could only play one, which should you pick?

Why you should play Baldur’s Gate 3

Few games, if any, offer the choices and customization that Baldur’s Gate 3 does. Even if you played 100 hours in early access, there’s always something new for you to find and replayability is extremely high.

With the lore of Dungeons & Dragons, the story of Baldur’s Gate 3 runs deeper than you can imagine, with every decision made on the way impacting your journey. Play your cards right, and companions can become lovers. Play them wrong and they can be enemies. Play them very wrong and they can become enemies and lovers.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is considered by many to be a Game of the Year contender for good reason. It feels much, much faster than you would imagine with turn-based combat, with strategy required to advance past the game’s toughest challenges.

The best part about Baldur’s Gate 3, however, is the companions. Each offers a fresh perspective on the story and has their own background. Whether playing as them or with a custom character, you’ll find yourself engaged in deep conversations and faced with difficult choices.

Those choices lead you in different directions and you can always come back in a future playthrough to experience a new journey in a game that feels like a new title every time you start again.

Related: Best starting classes to use in Baldur’s Gate 3

Why you should play Diablo 4

Diablo 4 offers something for everyone with a range of classes to suit any playstyle, all of which come with their own strengths and weaknesses, with several directions you can take when creating the ideal build.

A gripping story will have you locked into Diablo 4 for a long while, with the game then opening up further once completed with dungeons of varying difficulties to complete and endgame content that was not previously available.

With gear having random affixes and coming from random jobs, you’re never finished with Diablo 4 and there is always something to do, though it can turn into a grind when you’re running the same thing again and again hoping for better drops.

However, seasonal content offers new experiences and a three-month rotation should keep things fresh, allowing the opportunity to play as a different class in a different way, all while experiencing something new.

Playing Diablo 4 with a group of friends is also a great experience, providing cooperative situations and competitive scenarios when you’re all pushing for a rare drop, though further social content is something that is desperately needed.

Which one I recommend

Having sunk hours and hours into both games since their respective releases, Baldur’s Gate 3 would be my recommendation between the two, for several reasons.

Firstly, the game is absolutely gripping and impossible to put down. Every nook and cranny has something to find, every NPC can be spoken to and, if you’re so inclined, you can also talk to animals—several of which have secrets of their own.

While Diablo 4 provided hours of entertainment, Baldur’s Gate 3 offers much more. I’m already running two separate playthroughs, one as a custom character and the other as the Dark Urge origin character, and I’ll definitely start another once they are wrapped up.

In truth, Diablo 4 lacks replayability and does not lure you back in the same way Baldur’s Gate 3 does, which I’m struggling to put down. It is, simply, a masterpiece.