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What is up with Baldur's Gate 3?
(beehaw.org)
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As I see it, it's a confluence of things which have captured the zeitgeist:
These five things, in my opinion, have pushed Baldur's Gate 3 to the front of media outlets and, in turn, to the forefront of conversations.
This is a big part to me, in addition to your other points. D:OS2 didn't have the same hype going into launch because (at least to me) D:OD was good, but not amazing. Given how well received D:OS2 was, I think the media was primed both to give it attention and praise.
D:OS2 was better? As you might tell if you dive into my comments history, I absolutely did not like D:OS.
D&D itself is close to the highest popularity it's ever been at (I suppose with this game now it is at the peak), what with the movie having brought mainstream attention to it and Critical Role and other actual play shows bringing buckets of attention to the game/TTRPG hobby over the last 8ish years.