Baldur's Gate 3 Is The Big, Hairy Clog In My Hard Drive

When the PS5 launched in 2020, I assumed I would never have to worry about hard drive space again. The original model had 825 GB, a big improvement over my PS4 Slim’s measly 500 GB. Sure, you still had to worry about Call of Duty's regular massive updates eating up space on the PS5, but outside of that and some open-world behemoths like Red Dead Redemption 2, most games were more modestly sized. I probably wouldn't have anything to worry about, right?

Where Has All My PS5 Space Gone?

But, man, current-gen games are huge. I only have just seven games on my PS5 right now, yet I only have 86 GB of space left. One of those games is Braid, Anniversary Edition — a smaller indie that only takes up 2.67 gigs. Three are normal-sized triple-A games, Dishonored 2 (53.68), Bloodborne (36.51), and XDefiant (31.48). But then there’s a trio of big fat files that are hoarding all my PS5’s space for themselves. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the biggest, taking up an astonishing 146.3 GB. Baldur’s Gate 3 is next, at 122.8. And Red Dead Redemption 2 is the smallest — though small is a relative term here — at 116.3.

You might be wondering why, if BG3 is smaller than Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, I’ve decided to single it out. The answer is simple. Baldur’s Gate 3 has been on my PS5 for so freaking long that I’m beginning to doubt I’ll ever get it out. It is the big, hairy clog in my PS5 and snaking it out has proven to be a massive time commitment.

Baldur's Gate 3 Is A Big, Big Game

As I've said many, many times before: I love Baldur's Gate 3. It’s, hands down, one of the best RPGs I've ever played. It’s an undeniable gem. All that. But… it's really long, and I have a ton of other things to play for work and for fun. Each of its acts is as big as a full triple-A game if you commit to tying up every narrative thread, and finishing it essentially means committing to playing another big game.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn't like this. It's a long game, but it's manageably long. Completing the main story, per HowLongToBeat.com, takes 46 hours. Baldur's Gate 3 is listed as 66.5 hours to complete the main story, but I can't imagine actually finishing this game in any less than 150-200 hours. Maybe that means I'm playing too thoroughly, or just too slow, but that's how long it took my wife, too. Plus, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is strictly linear for much of its runtime, so you always feel like you know what to do and like you're making significant progress. Baldur's Gate 3 — especially the third act — throws dozens of quests at you and lets you follow whichever you like. That's part of why it's so great. It's also part of why I'm finding it unfinishable.

Calling it a big, hairy clog is a little uncharitable, but like individual strands of hair coming together to block your drain, Baldur’s Gate 3’s many story threads are tangling up and leaving me stuck. It’s a rat king of a game, and I am its loyal, but terrified subject.

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Larian and two motion capture actors walk us through the filming of Baldur's Gate 3 - all the romance and violence they brought to life.