Baldur’s Gate 3: Redefining RPG’S

Introduction

If you were to ask me at the end of 2022, what I thought the Game of the Year for 2023 would be, I probably would have said "well there's that new Final Fantasy coming out, or Bethesda's new game Starfield that will probably be up there" but I wouldn't for a second and most people probably wouldn't have said Baldur's Gate 3. Now fast forward to August 2023 and you can't find a single person who isn't absolutely certain that Baldur's Gate is 2023's Game of the Year. It not only masterfully adapts the concepts of Dungeons and Dragons into a video game format, but provides a level of depth scope and choice that rival that of its counterpart, but also reshapes and redefines what an RPG can be when pushed to its absolute limits.

The sheer amount of choice and branching narratives that transpire in this game are truly a marvel. Not only through the uses of character classes, proficiencies and the usual stats and perks that aid advantage in RPGs, but also the amount of abilities, and ways you can use the environment or interact with another character to alter an outcome. It is completely insane to imagine the amount of choices on offer here in Baldur's Gate 3. But it is not only the options of choice, but the more important part, the impact, and outcomes which there a multiple, and it feels like Larian have accounted for almost all instances that a player could think of. It really is the definitive experience to encapsulate what playing D&D would feel like in video game format.

But what makes Baldur's Gate so interesting on the narrative front is how much choice is afforded to the player, and not only the amount of choice, but also how meaningful and impactful these choices are. Many of the people you choose to help, or kill will have a ripple effect on things that transpire at different points in the story, and some of these allegiances can cause a major shift in how many key moments of Baldur's Gate's three act structure transpire.

If there is one aspect that Baldur's Gate never fails to deliver on it is the writing, all of these characters feel so believable and incredibly well written and multifaceted. Every one of the companions you encounter feels finely detailed with their morals and principles, that coincide with their rich backstories, that eloquently evolve throughout your playthrough. One thing that I feel makes these characters feel so special, is the influence that you the player have on these companions through exploring and developing relationships with them. It really can shape your experience for better or worse depending on how you interact with them, and to me there's a particular beauty in that. It really makes your experience feel like yours and again circles back to a big reoccurring talking point of this video, and that is choice.

I can't stress enough how compelling each of the main companions stories are in Baldur's Gate and the fact that there are some who're easily missed throughout your travels speaks to not only the replay value, but the confidence Larian had it the writing of the key characters they introduce you to and the philosophy of letting the player choose how they interact with the world. Its common with these games that go from upwards of 50 hours to complete for the story and characters growth and backstories to lose steam. Here in Baldur's Gate, it feels that you and your companions are as equal main characters as one another, and their journeys, progression and outcomes are as enticing as your own characters. I think there is also something that can be said for how Baldur's Gate handles even it's romantic relationships, it feels common for many different games with romance options that you chat to a character throughout the game and it ultimately leads to various sorts of scenes and it's done. But I feel like beyond the infamous Druid bear romance seen that blew this game up on the internet, is a wealth of romance encounters that tactfully work really well and adapt in accordance with the choices that the player makes and how they interact with the particular character. The romance option, feels like a potential extension and deeper look into the character more than something that exists in service of debauchery.

If I could sum it all up into a brief package Baldur's Gate's writing of it's characters, it's quests, and the branching mutations of choice as robust and full of knock-on effects that feel as meaningful and impactful as each other, whilst providing different outcomes and moments that shape the journey. The many minor quests and the storyboarding of these outcomes are all so well put together, that it feels like Larian has accounted for everything, and it is this impressive sense of scale and consistency of quality writing that allows you to get engrossed in Baldur's Gate and invest the 100's of hours trying to unravel all of it's mysteries and branching storylines.

The combat in Baldur's Gate 3 operates within a turn-based system, where a character will be afforded a certain amount of actions and movement, and the player will have to strategize how to effectively pick off enemies and use their classes abilities to their advantage. Baldur's Gate 3's combat takes every effort it can to correlate across the D&D experience. The combat adopts features from D&D such as opportunity attacks, which is equivalent to turning your back on enemy to move away, which leaves you open to being attacked, and rolling advantage/disadvantage attacks based on the class you're playing. Different spells or ranged attacks have a range the enemy has to be within to cast.

Whilst this form of combat may sound daunting or come across as steep learning curve and in a lot of ways it is, but at the same time it is also very comprehensive, providing a multitude of visual queues and explanation's that keep core mechanics comprehensive, and encourage the player to think outside of the box and be more tactical as they progress. But the combat works so effortlessly and provides such a strong sense of maneuverability

Now discussing the gameplay systems that run under the hood in Baldur's Gate is where you really start to see many of the innerworkings of what makes this game so extensive and limitless in what it allows the player to do.

In an interview that Todd Kenreck from D&D had with Baldur's Gate 3's director Swen Vincke he mentioned that there is a certain approach towards the inclusion features that Larian was taking with Baldur's Gate 3. This approach stems from a point of reflection from Larian's previous games. Swen mentioned that in previous games, they had included features in the game that they didn't go all in on, leaving some features to feel as though they fell short of their potential. So here in Baldur's Gate the approach was if the feature is in the game it will work across the board in every situation it is applicable. An example of this being the Animal Speaking skill, if you cast a spell to talk to one animal, then you can talk to ALL animals.

It's important to detail this, because what I find so fascinating about Baldur's Gate 3 is how many of the different spells, items, and objects can have a systemic effect on the world. From what I've mentioned earlier the story places a large emphasis on choice through dialogue options, but it isn't that alone that impacts the world. The player is able to use spells to teleport, investigate the dead, befriend animals, or turn invisible to sneak through an area. They're able to move almost any item that a person could carry and move it to make a path and access an area that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. You're able to throw a potion at the floor near a character, have it break and heal the teammate. It is this level of cause and effect, that keeps you think both analytically and creatively at the same time, and in this regard Baldur's Gates's combat and systemic systems that bring this world to life, are nothing but a stroke of genius.

which makes completing quests or figuring out a puzzle not feel like you're doing "the right way" but one of multiple possible ways. It allows for a level of flexibility that rewards creative thinking, and experimentation. It's interesting to me because as I wrote out this bullet point for this reviews script it dawned on me, hey you said the same thing for Tears of the Kingdom, yet Baldur's Gate and Tears are two very different experiences, and it was at this moment that it clicked with me what makes Baldur's Gate 3 truly as masterfully crafted RPG, and video game. It's how it takes the concept of curiosity that extends into every single choice that you make or action that you do. Where Zelda's curiosity and creativity shine through its sense of discovery, Baldur's Gates shine through its cause and effect leaving you thinking "how will this shape the outcomes of my journey" or "how can I creatively get around this thing". There is a large pool of tools, and what feels like a infinite suite of possibilities and that is what truly makes Baldur's Gate 3 feel like such a monolith of an RPG.

- Many of the spells and proficiencies make you want to leverage your skills in the best way possible and challenge yourself to look and uncover many of the mysteries hiding in the world. For example spells that enable you to talk to animals or the dead are abilities that you can use to open up a new set of options and even provide context to a situation or solve a puzzle. But it's not just these abilities there are many of them, and the world of Baldur's Gate is asking the player to remain inquisitive and rewards those players who do, whilst not necessarily punishing those who don't.

- Simple alchemy system, that provides meaningful results that can be applicable in various scenarios.

- The Item and armor systems work similar to how they function in D&D with Armor classes

- Baldur's Gates quests which I've discussed at

- Larian have figured out how to make a map feel large, but not due to land mass, but more from the density that comes from travelling from location to location.

- Performance is mostly pretty good, running at a pretty consistent 60fps on my 2080ti.

- There are some visual issues that have been encountered such as texture pop-in, and there was one npc whose skin around their jaw would stretch when they talked. There was also some building that would take some time to render (will test after updating gpu) but outside of these issues, the game runs pretty well.

- Only minor issue that I've encountered is with map markers, some appear after a quest is complete for example after doing the Aunties Ethel quest I still see a marker for the Teahouse, with no entry or quest to indicate what to do, because the quest is complete.

- The OST is absolutely a banger, some of the battle themes create a rush that makes me feel like I'm leading the charge in Lord of the Rings.

- The music and composition of the soundtrack is absolutely astounding the reoccurring motif of the riff from the main theme of down by river, slipping itself into many tracks, to the more epic and triumphant pieces that play in combat, and the sound of these tracks hitting a high when you slay an enemy, really does make these encounters, particularly boss encounters feel like a spectacle to experience, when everything is firing off.

- Baldur's Gate 3 is special in how it is able to tell a story about a game that released in early access three years ago. This move made by Larian would greatly benefit and improve the came over the course of those two and half years before the games full release. It would allow players to get their hands on the experience early and express suggestions and feedback, that would help improve and nurture the critically acclaimed masterclass of a game that we now have today.

- Swen Vickle stated in an interview that the goals for Baldur's Gate 3 was to make a cinematic triple A experience that can draw in a new audience that are usually put off by the steep learning curve of both turn-based CRPG's and D&D.