#because karlach [spoilers] non blue ended

[heph]

A Moment in Time - Dearly Missed

[was-it-really-worth-it]

Game 249 - Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios

I don’t have too much new to say about this game because it’s already been said a ton - it’s critically acclaimed, game of the year, hot vamp summer, etc. still, I quit tumble for 3 months because I didn’t want spoilers so you’re getting my blog post.

What did I think it was at first? I haven’t played any other Baldur’s Gate games, but I have played other Larian games. One day my partners and I will finally finish Divinity Original Sin II. However, I am very familiar with the rules of D&D 5e as I DM extensively and have been playing for 10ish years? The world of the Forgotten Realms is also very comfy to me - I’ve been playing and running games in this world for an age, even including some that take place in Baldur’s Gate.

How was the character creator? Since I’m so familiar with 5e, I was actually a little worried that I’d find the character creation underwhelming since the classes and races are pared down from what’s currently available in official sources for the game. My favorite race, kobold, isn’t playable. (Before you remind me about mods - my computer would catch on fire if I tried to play this game so I’m running it on PS5.) Still, I spent hours in here! Actual hours. There is a little body type diversity, you can pick a non-binary set of pronouns, there’s genitals? for some reason? very many options. You could also choose to play as one of the companion characters like in Divinity. If you make your own character, you can even choose to play a standard storyline or the Dark Urge character. I didn’t choose that myself, but my boyfriend played that character and I watched part of his play through and it was a completely different and very scary game.

I ended up creating a non-binary half-orc life cleric of Tiamat. World’s nicest cleric of an evil dragon god!

There’s probably spoilers after here!

How was the game? I mean, I put 96 hours in it so I must have liked it!

The game is first and foremost a really faithful translation of D&D mechanics. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much if I didn’t have the grounding in how the game works - there’s a lot to keep track of and it’s fairly complex. I found it hard to binge as well for that reason. I did play on “Balanced” difficulty because of my familiarity with the system, and I found the combats tough but always fair.

The story feels compelling and the stakes gradually increase over the three acts. I liked that the game clearly signposts for you when you’re about to progress to something that will leave you unable to return to past content. There’s a lot of room for creativity too - you can solve problems in a lot of different ways, and the game does its best to roll with the punches. In particular, combats could be completed both through good attention to action economy or through unorthodox methods like closing doors or building choke points.

The star of the show to me is the cast of companions and other characters. All of the voice acting is well done and you really grow to care about the people in your periphery, even those who only play incidental roles. My two ride or die characters were Astarion and Karlach, and the acting for both characters was extremely well done. They develop over the arc in game. NPCs you interact with also pop up again in surprising places, and depending on how you treat them the story significantly diverges. The world feels alive!

For what it’s worth, I didn’t mess around with the multiplayer so I got to really experience all of the companions in detail. I’d like to play a multiplayer game eventually. Maybe as a companion I didn’t hang out with as much? I kinda want to be Wyll.

One thing I was concerned about was that the game would build this rich narrative with tons of player choice that would eventually boil down to a Mass Effect style red/blue/green choice. I was surprised that this wasn’t the case! Your ending is nuanced based on the choices you make and the endgame state of various characters, relationships, and your use of certain mechanics. My ending was significantly different from many of the other players I have spoken with. The penultimate choices were HARD.

Art wise, it’s gorgeous - though even my PS5 had some issues running all the textures in some areas. The music is also great, though the “down by the river” motif was maddening after how long I spent in character creation and felt a little overused. The fight music in the House of Hope was a bop.

I love how gender, sexuality, and romance were handled in the game - there are tons of same gender couples, non-binary characters, and there weren’t any storylines based on homo/transphobia. It felt true to the way my friends and I play in the Forgotten Realms. I do wish there were more poly options! I loved being able to have a poly relationship but wished it felt less like an afterthought.

What did I not love? I found that the game moved very smoothly though Act 1 and 2, but as I entered Act 3 things began to feel buggy. I had several quests hang out glitched in my quest log as I couldn’t complete them due to the state of my world. Characters began to lag significantly in combat, particularly during large fights.

A lot of my quality of life issues (inventory management, swapping characters in and out of the party) were patched during my time playing the game, which was nice.

My one lasting complaint would be that the end fight felt a little incomplete without the ability to say goodbye and touch base with all of my party members. Hell, Dammon was there with my owlbear hyped up on drugs - but I couldn’t tell Minsc to fight well in the battles to come. I would have loved a Dragon Age: Origins style fight with my companions who didn’t come along holding the line or something like that. The epilogue was a bit of an improvement to this but I still feel like it’s a missed opportunity.

At 92 hours and $80, was it really worth it? Less than a dollar an hour is great! Not to mention that both other members of my household have at least 100 hours in… it’s got excellent value for the money. I had some trepidation at first due to the cost but it’s well worth it. Will I play again? I don’t know - I’d love to do a multiplayer game with friends or try the Dark Urge story if I can get my character to look like Taylor Swift. Still, the hype is totally valid for this one.