It was in January 2006 that I took my first step into the world of Azeroth in World of Warcraft. From this moment on, I was cursed. This game was so enthralling and groundbreaking that I couldn't move on to other games in the genre of MMORPGs. It was (and still is) a curse to compare every small detail, like the way your character moved and jumped or how spells "feel" when you cast them in other titles, to WoW. And for me, every game that came after or before it fell short in comparison.
Baldur's Gate 3 is the next World of Warcraft in that sense, but for RPGs. It's doing so many things to or near perfection that I fear my enjoyment of other and especially upcoming RPGs will ultimately be hampered by it. When other developers say that BG3 is an anomaly and shouldn't be raised standard for RPGs to come, it really is the highest accolade. It also is a quite depressing statement. But let's not dwell in sadness that the next game like this might be decades away and just play the game. Again. And again. Because you'll never experience everything it has to offer anyway.