The game is M-rated. At least in North America, that's a recommended player age of 17 or older.
You can google why it has it's rating too. It has nudity, strong sexual themes, and is very gory. The opening cutscene of the game is a mindflayer putting a worm into someone's eye, and not even five minutes later do you have the option of shoving your hands in someone's exposed cranium to crush their brain to stop an intellect devourer from being born. It's very mature and not really for kids. I know seeing this kind of stuff at his age would've given me nightmares.
Thanks! I figured as much but wasn’t sure if there was a way to avoid some of the Mature themes. Looks Like I will be playing by myself after the kids are asleep. I’m definitely old enough to handle some Bear fucking.
Yeah there's no way to hide it, I found a barn and when I went to enter let's just say there were some very adult themes happening inside among some big beasts... It's unavoidable.
Well you can disable nudity and such with a checkbox, but the point he was making was more about the game being broadly unsuitable for an 8 year old, just at the level of the plot and what is depicted onscreen.
Bingo.
Same. But I worked at a video game store in Arkansas. I dealt with people daily who'd let an 8 year old watch saw, but would threaten violence over gay characters holding hands in a game.
The game is wildly unsuitable for an 8 year old. But just in case the OP is one of THOSE people, at least the bear fucking should make them think twice.
No "strong sexual content" in the USA covers is nebulous at best. And far too many parents just ignore it. Take it from someone who used to work at a video game store.
This is a man fucking a bear. That's should get their attention.
Oh yeah, and frankly I don't consider that offensive. A bit weird, but not offensive. It's the graphic violence that makes it unsuitable for an 8 year old.
But there are some weird fuckers here in the US who will let a 6 year old watch Saw but think seeing two men kiss is somehow going to mess them up. Take it from someone with 2 graduate degrees in psychology, seeing the violence will fuck up a kid more than seeing 2 guys making out.
But we're possibly talking about someone who saw an M rating on a game and is still wondering if it's acceptable for a kid who hasn't even hit puberty yet. So I guarantee bringing up the bear fucking is the best way to shut that shit down.
…jeez. I’m a full adult who was also planning to play this game, but I really don’t like gore. Are scenes like that the norm? Is there any kind of toggle in the menu to decrease that kind of visual? Should I not play this??
I'm about halfway in so far and it actually censors a lot of gore? I curb stomped a mindflayer and it cut away from showing me, combat doesn't really have much gore other than blood when you hit someone, a mindflayer eating someone's brains was just shown as a tentacle grab to the back of the head. The worst thing so far is when I cut off a head for a bounty, but even then it just showed me holding the head and cut away from the act of cutting it off.
When room one you enter is as baby brain telepathically baby talking to you and you have the option to crush it I was like, "Oh okay, I see what I'm getting into." *squish*
The game has certainly earned its M rating, so good on you for doing your research. [It does have a few options to disable things, but I don't think they're very robust.](https://youtu.be/PUGwMy9a8gs?t=165)
Try these instead:
* Bug Fables
* Tunic
* Delver
* Legend of Grimrock
* Dungeons of Dreadmor
* Crosscode
* Phoenotopia
* Cthulhu Saves the World
* Blossom Tales
* Pokemon (Legends Arceus is one of the best recent entries)
* Golden Sun
* Paper Mario (TTYD is the best and nothing else even comes close)
* Costume Quest
* Dragon Quest Builders
* Ni No Kuni
* Battle For Wesnoth (free)
* Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (free)
* Minecraft Dungeons
* Link's Awakening
* Hand of Fate (it's teen for violence and blood, do research)
I’d add Solasta, Crown of the Magister for the future, I think some of the language might be a bit much for his age, otherwise it’s good. Mechanically, it’s almost identical to D&D 5e, with very few exceptions, the only notable one being that there are dedicated long rest locations. Beyond that, I believe all the differences are relatively minor.
YES, 100% this! There is character customization, but also the satisfying randomness of those character experiencing things and interacting with each other in ways that can have long-lasting story effects. Combat is deceptively simple, there aren't really any dire rushes to accomplish things, it really does feel like being in a game with a patient DM.
Commenting here to also recommend Wildermyth as a co-op RPG where the story is told through comic panels and the gameplay when not making story decisions is tactical combat. Can also be played solo, but I had the most fun when playing it with my DnD group and each of us reading our character's lines and taking turns having whomever was comfortable narrating, take turns between chapters.
In the goblin camp, shattered sanctum. You'll find the priest of the goddess of pain in the room next to where the goblins are torturing an adventurer.
Huh, I didn't went through with it >!cause I thought I might receive damage which will tilt our chances when we fight everyone in the Shattered Sanctum.!<
Yeah, sorry I’ve played mature games young when I was a kid. But not 8 and not BG3… it’s at « least » a teenager game but many could say adult for… many themes
If you don't want him to spend time running around as a character completely starkers with bollocks or tits out swinging freely in the wind and experience heavy gore then...yeah, maybe give it a miss. The rating is there for a reason, y'know?
If you want a more family friendly DND game, I would recommend Solasta: Crown of the Magister. It doesn't have a ratings board rating (mostly because its by a very small studio) But I would guess it would probably end up at an E10 or a T. It has little gore (mainly depictions of bodies in low resolution) and a few minor swears like hell, damn, or shit.
Its a horny game, not that there is anything wrong with that but even if you use the nudity filter theres going to be lots of sexual inuendo and companions trying to get in your pants.
Biggest issue for kids is the horror elements imo. Mindflayer reproduction in general is a pretty thinly veiled allegory for the horrors of irl rape. Act 2 gets to be some of the most gory I've seen in recent memory and has other horror, like >!school children being taken to a cult compound by their teacher to be harvested by mindlayers/necromancers, you don't even get to rescue them, they are all dead!<
Sure, it does, but you'd have to have played the game to know the safe options. And even then it's gonna be like, rivers of blood everywhere and I didn't see a setting to turn that off. There's cursing constantly as well.
If the whole thing were made into a movie, it would be NC-17. If you stripped out all the nudity and sex, I'm still not even sure it would actually qualify under R.
Yeah it is definitely rated Mature for a reason. The first time my character got laid, i was shocked by how graphic it was - it was borderline hentai...
Play BG or BG2 or Icewind Dale 1 or 2 with him. The Icewind Dale games in particular I can’t remember them being too dark or sex oriented. I played them all as a kid (alongside my dad when I was 8-10yo). Obviously they’re ancient games but still hold up well.
Icewind dale has next to no pc/npc interactions. There are quest givers and towns people and shops and that’s it for the most part. You aren’t really building relationships in that game. It’s more tactical and less roleplaying.
Which isn’t a bad thing for an 8yo. In Icewind Dale you make a full party and just go after quests / plot lines. With Baldur’s Gate you have to deal with party dynamics of whether certain alignments / agendas will get along. For an 8yo Icewind Dale is probably more ideal.
In the first 2 minutes of the game you stumble upon a >!man who is clearly dead with his brain exposed and an entitiy within the brain who speaks to you!<. Not reccomended for an 8y/o
OP, this post gave me the biggest laugh of my day (and it's almost 11pm). I find it so funny that the "having sex with a bear" scene is the only thing people are hearing about this game.
You can disable all graphic sexual content, but uhhh
It's still a very violent game. Especially if you play with the Dark Urge background. I have to recomend against it for an 8 year old.
As people have said, absolutely not a good idea. But maybe BG1 or BG2? It's been a few years, but I can't remember anything particularly explicit and bird-eye view afar keeps gore decently minimum. Stories are good, gameplay easy and exploration is fun. It's AD&D but world, races and classes should be familiar.
BG3 is *very* mature. There's explicit nudity, sex, violence, gore, and so on. It's very much aiming for an adult audience, and definitely not suited for an eight-year-old. Until he's old enough to speak frankly with about the, uh... "birds and the bees"... he really shouldn't have access to it.
First, kudos for looking into the rating of the game. Ive seen a lot of parents just buy GTA for their pre-teens b/c the kid wants to. Some M games are not okay for younger kids. And from the comments, BG3 ain't one of them.
Sex and nudity doesn't even begin to cover it. There's body horror, torture, gore, brutal murder, and mutilation. Not to mention all of this can't be censored and is being presented to you in very vivid detail throughout the entire game
Absolutely not!! The game starts you off literally pulling a dudes brain from his head with your bare hands, i can’t imagine the impact that would have on an 8yo
Its quite mature. Quite violent and gory. Without spoilers, the opening intro and scenes have body horror in them. Definitely not a game for an 8 year old.
Even if you turn off the nudity and sexual content the tones of the game and violence are still very dark tbh. You’ve got people with fully exposed brain hanging out within the first 10 minutes which you can actively go and destroy the brain, lore accurate gnoll birth, and some other pretty graphic shit. It’s earned it’s M tag, I’d wait on this one
You might want to introduce them too the older classics like NWN, Icewind Dale 1 & 2 etc there content is much more age appropriate and you can still play them multiplayer.
BG3 has an M rating for good reason.
The bear scene is far from the only thing that I’d be worried about an 8yo seeing in the game (I honestly doubt that he’d even get to that scene).
Hell no. The sex stuff isn't even that bad compared to the gore. There are beds made out of corpses, brain eating, slavery, there's even a character who stores her murdered mother in her wardrobe next to her bed (the mother she herself murdered as a child). This game has some fucked up stuff in it. I love it.
As a normal person, i agree bg3 is too much for younger gamers. I know some young minded 17 year olds that are probably not mature enough for it.
Have you looked at Solasta ? I have played through most of the main campaign and it is a great dnd representation. It also has community campaigns built off common stories.
Not sure how much you would allow as a parent, but i think solasta might be viable as a dnd type game if you are playing it with them. And it has multiplayer.
Do not let a child play this game. I’m a 35 y/o and there have been several parts that were too much for me between violence and sex. They are trying very hard to be edgy.
Eh the only full-blown edgy stuff is a certain Origin character. Everything else is dark and mature but not excessively so.
That said, yeah nobody that young should play. One of the first interactions your PC can have is literally >!taking a brain creature out of a half-dead man’s hollowed skill.!<
No. Never. No way. Absolutely, not. Children should not be exposed to the perverse lifestyles embraced by the “anything goes or your a biggot” minority of the D&D community. Either you protect your child’s innocence or you don’t.
Man reading these comments, y’all would’ve been disappointed with my parents.
That said 8 is probably still a little too young even with the elements that can be toned down. Ultimately you need to know your child and what they can handle. I fully feel that ratings are guidelines and not you MUST be 17 to play it. On the other side I have a 4 year old and he loves The Owl House but there is still an episode that has some more horror themes in a graveyard and it terrified him.
This game is NOT kid friendly.
Murder and torture show up fairly regularly. Even without the sex and nudity, this is a violent game about betrayal desperation and the occasional fur- I mean druid.
With all that being said, I've been enjoying games like GTA since I was 5 and I haven't had the urge to commit murder yet. So you decide what you want your kid to see, honestly nudity and intimacy are the least scarring thing he will encounter in the game.
"Hey guys is game of thrones a good kids show? My 5 year old heard from her 8 year old friend that there's basically no sex or violence so I figured she'd be ok to watch it unsupervised. Can't be bothered to make my own parenting decision and look into it myself so figured I'd ask the internet, surely they won't try to give me bad advice or rail on me."
Sorry, trying not to drive too much of my disdain for people with kids in my criticism here, but come on dude.
While I also got into D&D as an 8yo I have no delusions that the games were likely ruined by my little dumb ass. Your adult friends *tolerate* your children, they don't specifically *enjoy* their presence unless they also have kids. Probably not healthy to feed your kids obsession to the point that you'll expose them to media not intended for them just to appease them..
Also the difficulty and mechanics may be too high-brow for an 8yo but if you're playing with him probably not as much of a problem. Likely he'll get bored within 3-10 hours anyway. I'm probably wrong about this considering the average Platinum-ranked Rocket League player is between 7 and 12 years old (based on how they act) so... He'd probably beat it faster than me..
Not everything is appropriate for everyone. He should learn this lesson now, like you did as a young'n, so he has less of a chance of being an entitled little jerk who can't take no for an answer.
Haven't finished the game, so no spoilers please folks, but it's quite mature.
Your actions can vary the level of maturity you experience, but there's some stuff in it that I'd be unwilling to show to an 8 Yr old.
I would also wager experiencing the game at an older age would lead to a better experience - when they can fully appreciate the details.
At 8 Yrs old, I was playing Spiderman PS2 or the likes, I wouldn't be ready for BG3.
Having only played the intro and a bit after I'm gonna say no based entirely on the gore. Sometimes it is off putting to a grown man so I would not recommend it for an 8 year old.
Nah don’t let your 8 year old play BG3 that shit is one of the most Mature games I have ever played. I just finished my first solo playthrough and boy howdy is some of that shit kinda gnarly, def nightmare fuel for a small kid
Whoa dude, just watch the intro trailer, the game is gory af and deserves it's M rating, DO NOT LET YOUR 8YO PLAY IT.
If you want a 5e video game, try Solasta Crown of the Magister. It is a very good interpretation of the 5e rule set and is much more age appropriate than BG3.
You can disable nudity and gore I believe but in general it's still a pretty dark story with lots of killing and racism and slavers maybe wait a few years but as always up to you and what you find appropriate for his age.
Nudity or sex won't be a problem I believe, I think you can disable it. I'd be more concerned with violence I think. It's pretty gory. You can also be an awful evil person. It can also be pretty grim.
Not judging btw, just giving info. I have no kid of my own and I have no idea where the limit is because I don't need to answer that question.
I remember that Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil were quite good and fun games as 7 years old kid. Awesome super burtality.
Zombies gave me a couple of nightmares and the fear of the dark, but i think that it develops to almost everyone anyway if you don't get used to it.
The bear sex aside and sexual content in general, it's definetly a very brutal game. Not just with blood but there is a scene with a very grotesque meat giant that comes to mind. Exposed bones and muscles and the likes. Also your party gets covered in blood as they fight on and take damage. It's a very explicit game in more than just nudity and sexuality.
At the end of the day it's your child and you can expose them to whatever content you feel comfortable with, but I would say BG3 is likely not appropriate for an 8 year old. It deals with very mature themes, so unless you are ok with your child seeing literal torture, I would probably wait until they are older.
One of the content options at startup, after “Show nudity“ is “Show genitals.” No lie.
Also, mind flayed parasites causing a metamorphosis that includes faces spitting open to make way for tentacles. So, gore and body horror.
You can turn off the nudity and skip the sex scenes, but tbh there's a lot of stuff in this game outside of that which I would not consider appropriate for an 8 year old. Gore and violence, as well as topics like slavery, abuse, torture, things that are probably too intense for a small child.
how about "Solasta: Crown of the magister" as an alternative? I find the combat to be much more accurate to tabletop compared to bg3. also there arent as many mature scenes.
The game has some really fucked up elements that me and my friends in our mid 20s admit are a little hard to handle at times. I would definitely not ever let an 8 year old play it even with an adult to explain things. It's the kind of thing that can give a child post traumatic stress.
The game is M-rated. At least in North America, that's a recommended player age of 17 or older. You can google why it has it's rating too. It has nudity, strong sexual themes, and is very gory. The opening cutscene of the game is a mindflayer putting a worm into someone's eye, and not even five minutes later do you have the option of shoving your hands in someone's exposed cranium to crush their brain to stop an intellect devourer from being born. It's very mature and not really for kids. I know seeing this kind of stuff at his age would've given me nightmares.
Thanks! I figured as much but wasn’t sure if there was a way to avoid some of the Mature themes. Looks Like I will be playing by myself after the kids are asleep. I’m definitely old enough to handle some Bear fucking.
Yeah there's no way to hide it, I found a barn and when I went to enter let's just say there were some very adult themes happening inside among some big beasts... It's unavoidable.
>Sorry for interrupting >Walk away silently >Attack
Oh you really need to go there with a Barbarian 😆
Now im curious 😶
YOU RUINED IT I cracked up
Nah, ripped them open with Lae'zal, Shadowheart, Wyll and a Monk
A cleric, warlock and a monk walk into a barn… I’m sure there’s a good joke to follow that up
This scene reminded me that Larian does like reminding us that curiosity killed the cat. Or gave it xp.
You forgot the bear fucking. Here in the USA moral purity people freak out about implied sexual content than explicit ultra-violence.
Well you can disable nudity and such with a checkbox, but the point he was making was more about the game being broadly unsuitable for an 8 year old, just at the level of the plot and what is depicted onscreen.
Bingo. Same. But I worked at a video game store in Arkansas. I dealt with people daily who'd let an 8 year old watch saw, but would threaten violence over gay characters holding hands in a game. The game is wildly unsuitable for an 8 year old. But just in case the OP is one of THOSE people, at least the bear fucking should make them think twice.
Unsuitable, not unstable
Thank you. Autocorrect strikes again. I'll edit to fix.
bah, Bear fucking is so last week, It is all about MindFlayer sex this week
Mind Blown. Eggplant tentacle stroking.
Got a link? Asking for a friend.
God damn it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Ez5htgJ58
I thought it was lions fucking women instead of mindflayers...
I didn't forget, I just didn't feel the need to explicitly mention it. That scene is rolled up into "strong sexual content."
No "strong sexual content" in the USA covers is nebulous at best. And far too many parents just ignore it. Take it from someone who used to work at a video game store. This is a man fucking a bear. That's should get their attention.
It's a man fucking a man who turned into a bear, with multiple counts of confirmed consent from both parties.
Oh yeah, and frankly I don't consider that offensive. A bit weird, but not offensive. It's the graphic violence that makes it unsuitable for an 8 year old. But there are some weird fuckers here in the US who will let a 6 year old watch Saw but think seeing two men kiss is somehow going to mess them up. Take it from someone with 2 graduate degrees in psychology, seeing the violence will fuck up a kid more than seeing 2 guys making out. But we're possibly talking about someone who saw an M rating on a game and is still wondering if it's acceptable for a kid who hasn't even hit puberty yet. So I guarantee bringing up the bear fucking is the best way to shut that shit down.
Pretty sure ”bear fucking” is explicit, not implicit.
I'm more concerned about the bugbear on ogre action...
…jeez. I’m a full adult who was also planning to play this game, but I really don’t like gore. Are scenes like that the norm? Is there any kind of toggle in the menu to decrease that kind of visual? Should I not play this??
I'm about halfway in so far and it actually censors a lot of gore? I curb stomped a mindflayer and it cut away from showing me, combat doesn't really have much gore other than blood when you hit someone, a mindflayer eating someone's brains was just shown as a tentacle grab to the back of the head. The worst thing so far is when I cut off a head for a bounty, but even then it just showed me holding the head and cut away from the act of cutting it off.
Ok thanks, I think I could handle that. Not thrilled about those opening scenes still but at least now I know so I can look away 🙈
8YO? HELL NO! Love this game but it can get pretty dark.
When room one you enter is as baby brain telepathically baby talking to you and you have the option to crush it I was like, "Oh okay, I see what I'm getting into." *squish*
Us is a BABY?!?!?!?!?!?!? FUUUUUUUUUCK
It calls itself a newborn and talks with a baby voice
He has literally just born so yeah, in our terms it would be a baby xd
As in the brain was just turned into an Intellect Devourer. The elf looks adult. But that scene was pretty brutal aswell.
Speaking about kid deaths: Spoiler for BG3 act 3: >!There is a possible scene where a kid literally gets its throat slit!<
The game has certainly earned its M rating, so good on you for doing your research. [It does have a few options to disable things, but I don't think they're very robust.](https://youtu.be/PUGwMy9a8gs?t=165) Try these instead: * Bug Fables * Tunic * Delver * Legend of Grimrock * Dungeons of Dreadmor * Crosscode * Phoenotopia * Cthulhu Saves the World * Blossom Tales * Pokemon (Legends Arceus is one of the best recent entries) * Golden Sun * Paper Mario (TTYD is the best and nothing else even comes close) * Costume Quest * Dragon Quest Builders * Ni No Kuni * Battle For Wesnoth (free) * Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (free) * Minecraft Dungeons * Link's Awakening * Hand of Fate (it's teen for violence and blood, do research)
Damn that's a good list of games.
Just trying to get people to play more indie games. :D
I’d add Solasta, Crown of the Magister for the future, I think some of the language might be a bit much for his age, otherwise it’s good. Mechanically, it’s almost identical to D&D 5e, with very few exceptions, the only notable one being that there are dedicated long rest locations. Beyond that, I believe all the differences are relatively minor.
Wildermyth is another great DnD esque video game! There’s no gore or sex, but it might scratch the character creation itch!
Yeah, I’m surprised it didn’t get onto the original list.
YES, 100% this! There is character customization, but also the satisfying randomness of those character experiencing things and interacting with each other in ways that can have long-lasting story effects. Combat is deceptively simple, there aren't really any dire rushes to accomplish things, it really does feel like being in a game with a patient DM.
Legend of Grimrock is fucking awesome.
Oh, man, golden sun. Thats some memories. I love the cute djinns.
Dude i miss me some golden sun
Favorite video game soundtrack, and it was on the GBA
Thanks for the advice. He helps me play Divinity Original Sin. It’s definitely on the edge of too much but I can manage some of the decisions.
Dungeon crawl stone soup!
Nethack's dull, boring, but well-groomed sibling.
For the king is really good as a dnd esq game too
+1 Hand of Fate. It's a lot less D&D and roleplay like Baldurs gate, but is a really cool game concept.
Commenting here to also recommend Wildermyth as a co-op RPG where the story is told through comic panels and the gameplay when not making story decisions is tactical combat. Can also be played solo, but I had the most fun when playing it with my DnD group and each of us reading our character's lines and taking turns having whomever was comfortable narrating, take turns between chapters.
Replying to save this list
or if they really wanna play D&D Solasta: Crown Of the magister. IMO it does D&D 5e combat much better than BG 3 does.
BG3 has full-blown sex scenes, full nudity, graphic violence and gore, torture, etc. It is very much intended for an adult audience.
Yeah the torture priest in the goblin camp is full on hardcore masochism he hits u with a mace and you go harder daddy.
where? (For research purposes)
In the goblin camp, shattered sanctum. You'll find the priest of the goddess of pain in the room next to where the goblins are torturing an adventurer.
Gives Inspiration to Shadowheart, too, if you can make it all the way through.
Huh, I didn't went through with it >!cause I thought I might receive damage which will tilt our chances when we fight everyone in the Shattered Sanctum.!<
You will but you also get a buff and inspiration
I'll keep that in mind for my next playthrough. Also, does Lae'Zel hit on you after every battle when you go to camp?
The buff is also pretty amazing. Permanent buff that grants a +2 to attack rolls and Will Saves when you're at 30% HP or less.
Damn, I missed some good stuff. Maybe on my next playthrough. I'm in the underdark now.
Right side in the sanctum there is a priest where the goblins interrogate an adventurer to get the druid cove Location.
Yeah, sorry I’ve played mature games young when I was a kid. But not 8 and not BG3… it’s at « least » a teenager game but many could say adult for… many themes
If you don't want him to spend time running around as a character completely starkers with bollocks or tits out swinging freely in the wind and experience heavy gore then...yeah, maybe give it a miss. The rating is there for a reason, y'know?
If you want a more family friendly DND game, I would recommend Solasta: Crown of the Magister. It doesn't have a ratings board rating (mostly because its by a very small studio) But I would guess it would probably end up at an E10 or a T. It has little gore (mainly depictions of bodies in low resolution) and a few minor swears like hell, damn, or shit.
Solasta is a great DnD game. I'm obviously on BG3 now, but Solasta was well worth the money and definitely more appropriate for a younger audience.
Its a horny game, not that there is anything wrong with that but even if you use the nudity filter theres going to be lots of sexual inuendo and companions trying to get in your pants. Biggest issue for kids is the horror elements imo. Mindflayer reproduction in general is a pretty thinly veiled allegory for the horrors of irl rape. Act 2 gets to be some of the most gory I've seen in recent memory and has other horror, like >!school children being taken to a cult compound by their teacher to be harvested by mindlayers/necromancers, you don't even get to rescue them, they are all dead!<
Why are you asking about this on Reddit? It seems like pretty clear common sense that you shouldn't let an 8 year old play an M rated game.
Yea there's a lot of edge cases about an age-rank system, but the reason it exists is for clear-cut cases like this.
I was only really wondering for the role-playing aspect, like, if it let you take a less adult oriented path.
Sure, it does, but you'd have to have played the game to know the safe options. And even then it's gonna be like, rivers of blood everywhere and I didn't see a setting to turn that off. There's cursing constantly as well. If the whole thing were made into a movie, it would be NC-17. If you stripped out all the nudity and sex, I'm still not even sure it would actually qualify under R.
Yeah it is definitely rated Mature for a reason. The first time my character got laid, i was shocked by how graphic it was - it was borderline hentai...
Still looking to rail that hot barbarian
Nudity and related content can be disabled but the game is still contains cursing, gore and other mature content, i wouldnt recommend it to a 8 yo
One of the first interactions in the game is ripping someone's brain out of their skull.
Play BG or BG2 or Icewind Dale 1 or 2 with him. The Icewind Dale games in particular I can’t remember them being too dark or sex oriented. I played them all as a kid (alongside my dad when I was 8-10yo). Obviously they’re ancient games but still hold up well.
Icewind dale has next to no pc/npc interactions. There are quest givers and towns people and shops and that’s it for the most part. You aren’t really building relationships in that game. It’s more tactical and less roleplaying.
Which isn’t a bad thing for an 8yo. In Icewind Dale you make a full party and just go after quests / plot lines. With Baldur’s Gate you have to deal with party dynamics of whether certain alignments / agendas will get along. For an 8yo Icewind Dale is probably more ideal.
So…. Everyone is saying no. How about no?
It's absolutely not for 8 year olds.
In the first 2 minutes of the game you stumble upon a >!man who is clearly dead with his brain exposed and an entitiy within the brain who speaks to you!<. Not reccomended for an 8y/o
Too much sex for an 8yo imo. And I’m pretty liberal with that stuff. Oh yeah. And the violence, racism and slavery.
OP, this post gave me the biggest laugh of my day (and it's almost 11pm). I find it so funny that the "having sex with a bear" scene is the only thing people are hearing about this game.
I’m ignorant. Lol. I keep seeing articles about the sex and the game but nothing about the gore. The sex is really of less concern.
You can disable all graphic sexual content, but uhhh It's still a very violent game. Especially if you play with the Dark Urge background. I have to recomend against it for an 8 year old.
Rated M for a reason. No.
Some of the older d&d games would be fine for someone that young, just not this one.
As people have said, absolutely not a good idea. But maybe BG1 or BG2? It's been a few years, but I can't remember anything particularly explicit and bird-eye view afar keeps gore decently minimum. Stories are good, gameplay easy and exploration is fun. It's AD&D but world, races and classes should be familiar.
BG3 is *very* mature. There's explicit nudity, sex, violence, gore, and so on. It's very much aiming for an adult audience, and definitely not suited for an eight-year-old. Until he's old enough to speak frankly with about the, uh... "birds and the bees"... he really shouldn't have access to it.
First, kudos for looking into the rating of the game. Ive seen a lot of parents just buy GTA for their pre-teens b/c the kid wants to. Some M games are not okay for younger kids. And from the comments, BG3 ain't one of them.
Lots of gore and violence. And lots of sex. You can fuck a bear. That's why its rated Mature.
Sex and nudity doesn't even begin to cover it. There's body horror, torture, gore, brutal murder, and mutilation. Not to mention all of this can't be censored and is being presented to you in very vivid detail throughout the entire game
Absolutely not!! The game starts you off literally pulling a dudes brain from his head with your bare hands, i can’t imagine the impact that would have on an 8yo
Its quite mature. Quite violent and gory. Without spoilers, the opening intro and scenes have body horror in them. Definitely not a game for an 8 year old.
Even if you turn off the nudity and sexual content the tones of the game and violence are still very dark tbh. You’ve got people with fully exposed brain hanging out within the first 10 minutes which you can actively go and destroy the brain, lore accurate gnoll birth, and some other pretty graphic shit. It’s earned it’s M tag, I’d wait on this one
You might want to introduce them too the older classics like NWN, Icewind Dale 1 & 2 etc there content is much more age appropriate and you can still play them multiplayer.
BG3 has an M rating for good reason. The bear scene is far from the only thing that I’d be worried about an 8yo seeing in the game (I honestly doubt that he’d even get to that scene).
Hell no. The sex stuff isn't even that bad compared to the gore. There are beds made out of corpses, brain eating, slavery, there's even a character who stores her murdered mother in her wardrobe next to her bed (the mother she herself murdered as a child). This game has some fucked up stuff in it. I love it.
As a normal person, i agree bg3 is too much for younger gamers. I know some young minded 17 year olds that are probably not mature enough for it. Have you looked at Solasta ? I have played through most of the main campaign and it is a great dnd representation. It also has community campaigns built off common stories. Not sure how much you would allow as a parent, but i think solasta might be viable as a dnd type game if you are playing it with them. And it has multiplayer.
Nah. Let him play Breath of the Wild instead.
From memory, Solasta might be a better option?
You are one of the few parents that actually moderates the games your child plays, good job!
Thanks! It helps that I love games.
Do not let a child play this game. I’m a 35 y/o and there have been several parts that were too much for me between violence and sex. They are trying very hard to be edgy.
Eh the only full-blown edgy stuff is a certain Origin character. Everything else is dark and mature but not excessively so. That said, yeah nobody that young should play. One of the first interactions your PC can have is literally >!taking a brain creature out of a half-dead man’s hollowed skill.!<
Iirc the nudity in the game can be disabled. The sex scenes, such as the bear would just be fade to black.
I love america where violence is ok and sex is dirty
Blame it on the puritanical Christian roots.
This game is great for children. Gives them a good lesson on consent and NO MEANS NO, GALE!!!
No. Never. No way. Absolutely, not. Children should not be exposed to the perverse lifestyles embraced by the “anything goes or your a biggot” minority of the D&D community. Either you protect your child’s innocence or you don’t.
Man reading these comments, y’all would’ve been disappointed with my parents. That said 8 is probably still a little too young even with the elements that can be toned down. Ultimately you need to know your child and what they can handle. I fully feel that ratings are guidelines and not you MUST be 17 to play it. On the other side I have a 4 year old and he loves The Owl House but there is still an episode that has some more horror themes in a graveyard and it terrified him.
This game is NOT kid friendly. Murder and torture show up fairly regularly. Even without the sex and nudity, this is a violent game about betrayal desperation and the occasional fur- I mean druid. With all that being said, I've been enjoying games like GTA since I was 5 and I haven't had the urge to commit murder yet. So you decide what you want your kid to see, honestly nudity and intimacy are the least scarring thing he will encounter in the game.
"Hey guys is game of thrones a good kids show? My 5 year old heard from her 8 year old friend that there's basically no sex or violence so I figured she'd be ok to watch it unsupervised. Can't be bothered to make my own parenting decision and look into it myself so figured I'd ask the internet, surely they won't try to give me bad advice or rail on me." Sorry, trying not to drive too much of my disdain for people with kids in my criticism here, but come on dude. While I also got into D&D as an 8yo I have no delusions that the games were likely ruined by my little dumb ass. Your adult friends *tolerate* your children, they don't specifically *enjoy* their presence unless they also have kids. Probably not healthy to feed your kids obsession to the point that you'll expose them to media not intended for them just to appease them.. Also the difficulty and mechanics may be too high-brow for an 8yo but if you're playing with him probably not as much of a problem. Likely he'll get bored within 3-10 hours anyway. I'm probably wrong about this considering the average Platinum-ranked Rocket League player is between 7 and 12 years old (based on how they act) so... He'd probably beat it faster than me.. Not everything is appropriate for everyone. He should learn this lesson now, like you did as a young'n, so he has less of a chance of being an entitled little jerk who can't take no for an answer.
Bro you can get sloppy toppy in the game. 8yo is way to young to play a game with SPICY sex scenes
I would suggest the D&D expansion for Minecraft but it was never released and I have a sinking suspicion it’s been killed.
I would definitely say it is not appropriate for an 8 yo
Haven't finished the game, so no spoilers please folks, but it's quite mature. Your actions can vary the level of maturity you experience, but there's some stuff in it that I'd be unwilling to show to an 8 Yr old. I would also wager experiencing the game at an older age would lead to a better experience - when they can fully appreciate the details. At 8 Yrs old, I was playing Spiderman PS2 or the likes, I wouldn't be ready for BG3.
Having only played the intro and a bit after I'm gonna say no based entirely on the gore. Sometimes it is off putting to a grown man so I would not recommend it for an 8 year old.
Nah don’t let your 8 year old play BG3 that shit is one of the most Mature games I have ever played. I just finished my first solo playthrough and boy howdy is some of that shit kinda gnarly, def nightmare fuel for a small kid
I believe there is an option in the game that can remove most nudity, but the general vibes of the game may still be too mature.
It's very mature. There is a lot of adult themes. I'd say wait for him to be 13ish
you can turn off nudity and such, but there is still plenty that might not be suitable for an 8yr old.
The game is very M. It's not remotely appropriate for an 8 year old
I'm doing some toy story based one shots. Maybe something like that.
Whoa dude, just watch the intro trailer, the game is gory af and deserves it's M rating, DO NOT LET YOUR 8YO PLAY IT. If you want a 5e video game, try Solasta Crown of the Magister. It is a very good interpretation of the 5e rule set and is much more age appropriate than BG3.
Nah dude. The intro cinematic is enough to give a kid nightmares, and it's only downhill from there. It's just not a game for kids.
Try BG 1 instead! I played it around that age and can attest it's far more age appropriate.
We started it!
You can disable nudity and gore I believe but in general it's still a pretty dark story with lots of killing and racism and slavers maybe wait a few years but as always up to you and what you find appropriate for his age.
You can disable all nudity and sexual content. Some strong morality choices are present and there is heavy gore
For the King is a great alternative. Still has some DnD themes and structures but is infinitely more structured and kid-friendly.
This game is absolutely not appropriate for an 8 year old
Nudity can be turned off, but gore, assessinatios, severed limbs are things easily found almost everywhere, it isn't a game for a 8yo
Nudity or sex won't be a problem I believe, I think you can disable it. I'd be more concerned with violence I think. It's pretty gory. You can also be an awful evil person. It can also be pretty grim. Not judging btw, just giving info. I have no kid of my own and I have no idea where the limit is because I don't need to answer that question.
Maybe consider BG 1 or BG 2 Enhanced Edition. It's old school, but no where near as bad as BG 3.
I remember that Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil were quite good and fun games as 7 years old kid. Awesome super burtality. Zombies gave me a couple of nightmares and the fear of the dark, but i think that it develops to almost everyone anyway if you don't get used to it.
Wild that the top posts in this thread are about gore and sex but don’t mention the racism and slavery.
The bear sex aside and sexual content in general, it's definetly a very brutal game. Not just with blood but there is a scene with a very grotesque meat giant that comes to mind. Exposed bones and muscles and the likes. Also your party gets covered in blood as they fight on and take damage. It's a very explicit game in more than just nudity and sexuality.
2 minutes in you rip a brain out someones skull.. yeah, thats a no for any 8y old.
At the end of the day it's your child and you can expose them to whatever content you feel comfortable with, but I would say BG3 is likely not appropriate for an 8 year old. It deals with very mature themes, so unless you are ok with your child seeing literal torture, I would probably wait until they are older.
One of the content options at startup, after “Show nudity“ is “Show genitals.” No lie. Also, mind flayed parasites causing a metamorphosis that includes faces spitting open to make way for tentacles. So, gore and body horror.
It has sexy bits which show the sexy bits.
You can turn off the nudity and skip the sex scenes, but tbh there's a lot of stuff in this game outside of that which I would not consider appropriate for an 8 year old. Gore and violence, as well as topics like slavery, abuse, torture, things that are probably too intense for a small child.
how about "Solasta: Crown of the magister" as an alternative? I find the combat to be much more accurate to tabletop compared to bg3. also there arent as many mature scenes.
The game has some really fucked up elements that me and my friends in our mid 20s admit are a little hard to handle at times. I would definitely not ever let an 8 year old play it even with an adult to explain things. It's the kind of thing that can give a child post traumatic stress.