Choose Baldur’s Gate 3 if you want a story-led RPG built around turn-based tactical combat, party relationships and decisions that shape events. Choose Elden Ring if you want action combat, open-ended exploration, dungeons and demanding boss encounters. The quickest way to decide is to ask which kind of combat you want to spend your time with: planned turns or real-time action.
How are Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring different?
Both are fantasy role-playing games, but they organize the experience around different pleasures. Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you a party, conversations and tactical battles governed by rules based on Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition. Elden Ring puts exploration and action-combat encounters at the center, asking you to find your way through a dark fantasy world and overcome its obstacles.
| What you’re choosing | Baldur’s Gate 3 | Elden Ring |
|---|---|---|
| Combat | Turn-based, tactical encounters based on D&D fifth-edition rules; difficulty settings let you adjust combat pressure. | Action RPG combat, with enemies, dungeons and boss battles emphasized in the official description. |
| Story and discovery | A cinematic, player-driven story shaped by dialogue, party members and consequential choices. | Discovery through a dark fantasy world, its locations and the challenges you encounter. |
| Multiplayer | Online co-op campaign for up to four players. | The official page lists online play for up to three players and separate Arenas for up to six. |
| Current official platform listings | Larian’s FAQ includes dated platform information, so check the current store listing for your platform before buying. | Bandai Namco’s current official page lists PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch 2; the Switch 2 listing is the Tarnished Edition. |
The player counts describe different features, not interchangeable multiplayer modes. If playing with friends is the deciding factor, compare the specific experience you want: a shared story campaign or Elden Ring’s listed online modes.
Should you get Baldur’s Gate 3?
Pick it for tactical, turn-based combat
BG3 gives you time to consider your options during combat rather than asking you to execute attacks in real time. Its encounters use D&D fifth-edition rules, and Larian lists three difficulty settings and weighted dice options. That makes it the clearer fit if you want to plan turns or adjust the game’s challenge.
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#1 Best Overall
- Online multiplayer for up to four players - allows you to combine your forces in combat, and split your party to follow your own quests and agendas. Concoct the perfect plan together… or introduce an element of chaos when your friends least expect it
- Origin Character - offer a hand-crafted experience, each with their own unique traits, agenda, and outlook on the world. Their stories intersect with the entire narrative, and your choices will determine whether those stories end in redemption, salvation, domination, or many other outcomes
- Evolved turn-based combat - based on the D&D 5e ruleset. Team-based initiative, advantage & disadvantage, and roll modifiers join combat cameras, expanded environmental interactions, and a new fluidity in combat that rewards strategy and foresight
- Define the future of the Forgotten Realms - through your choices, and the roll of the dice. No matter who you play, or what you roll, the world and its inhabitants will react to your story
- Player-initiated turn-based mode - allows you to pause the world around you at any time even outside of combat. Whether you see an opportunity for a tactical advantage before combat begins, want to pull off a heist with pin-point precision, or need to escape a fiendish trap. Split your party, prepare ambushes, sneak in the darkness -- create your own luck!
Pick it for party relationships and consequential choices
Conversations and your relationships with party members are central to BG3’s player-driven story. Choose it if you want to shape how characters respond and see decisions affect the story’s outcomes. You do not need to have played Baldur’s Gate or Baldur’s Gate II to follow this game’s story.
Pick it for a co-op story campaign
Larian describes online multiplayer for up to four players. That makes BG3 a direct option if you and friends want to play through a party-based campaign together; the player limit alone does not establish how its co-op compares with Elden Ring’s online features.
Rank #2
- Immersive RPG Experience: Dive into the highly-anticipated Baldur's Gate 3, a captivating role-playing game set in the iconic Dungeons & Dragons universe.
- Deluxe Edition: This premium edition includes the base game, exclusive stickers, and an official soundtrack to enhance your adventure.
- Epic Storytelling: Embark on an epic journey filled with complex narratives, challenging quests, and memorable characters.
- Tactical Combat: Engage in strategic, turn-based battles that require careful planning and execution of your party's abilities.
- Customizable Characters: Create and customize your own unique heroes, shaping their appearances, abilities, and personalities to fit your playstyle.
Should you get Elden Ring?
Pick it for exploration and action challenges
Elden Ring foregrounds exploration across a dark fantasy world, including fields, dungeons and boss battles. It is the stronger match if you want to discover locations and meet challenges through action combat rather than spend time in turn-based encounters.
Pick it if overcoming difficult encounters is the appeal
The publisher presents obstacles and boss fights as core parts of the experience. If you enjoy learning action encounters and working toward a hard-won victory, that emphasis is a reason to choose Elden Ring. Don’t assume its settings offer no way to adjust the experience; check the current game options if that is important to you.
Rank #3
- Contains Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, & Siege of Dragonspear
- Baldur's Gate - Since its original release in 1998, Baldur's Gate has set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons computer roleplaying games.
- Baldur's Gate II - Continue a journey started in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition or create an entirely new character in this isometric Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.
- Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear - Adds a new chapter to the Bhaalspawn saga. The events occurring between Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II are at last revealed in this 25-hour adventure.
Know which Elden Ring edition you’re buying
Listings may be for the base game, an expansion bundle or downloadable content. Shadow of the Erdtree requires the base game, so check the product description and platform before checkout. Bandai Namco’s official US store showed standard PS4, PS5 and Xbox editions as well as expansion editions when accessed, but stock and prices can change.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which game should you get if you’re still undecided?
- Choose Baldur’s Gate 3 if you’d rather plan tactical turns, build relationships with a party and influence a story through decisions.
- Choose Elden Ring if you’d rather explore, fight in real time and take on dungeons and bosses.
- Choose based on the multiplayer feature if friends are the main reason you’re buying: BG3 explicitly offers an online co-op campaign for up to four, while Elden Ring’s official page lists online play and Arenas separately.
If you want both kinds of experience and plan to play both eventually, choose the game whose combat you are more eager to learn first. That distinction is more useful than treating either title as a general-purpose substitute for the other.
Rank #4
Check the platform, edition and price before checkout
Verify the exact platform and edition on the store where you plan to buy. Larian lists standard, digital deluxe and physical deluxe purchase options for BG3, but its FAQ’s platform text is not current enough to serve as a complete availability list. Elden Ring’s official page lists a base game, expansion options and a Nintendo Switch 2 Tarnished Edition. Store availability, stock and prices vary; a current same-region, same-platform price comparison is not established here, so compare the relevant storefronts directly.
Quick Recap
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