I’m ashamed to confess that, whereas I purchased Baldur’s Gate 3 instantly on the launch of its early entry interval in October 2020, it took me simply in need of 5 years to complete my first playthrough of the sport. A mixture of inadequate {hardware} and totally different life priorities received in the way in which, however my consideration and curiosity within the sport by no means waned. Baldur’s Gate 2 might be a very powerful online game I’ve performed in my life, so my stage of pleasure each time I might dive into the sequel is tough to understate, particularly contemplating the showers of reward the sport acquired over time.
Sadly, I ended my saga on a low observe.
Once I lastly received to confront the Netherbrain, I used to be excited to see how the group at Larian Studios would weave collectively the strands of the sport’s story, formed by my decisions and interpretation. However for me, these strands didn’t precisely come collectively. Within the last beats of Act 3, I attempted to be as selfless as attainable in my choices, performing as an archetypical hero. As a consequence, I used to be locked out of all essentially the most attention-grabbing endgame content material.
I launched into my Baldur’s Gate 3 quest enjoying a Bard-Paladin multiclass (“Bardadin”, within the sport lingo), a selection that, I admit, was motivated by min-maxing my construct. I remorse it not solely as a result of it made my first playthrough approach too simple, but additionally as a result of it made no sense from a roleplay perspective. In my (admittedly, a bit old-school) imaginative and prescient of D&D and its world, a Bard represents the drive of freedom and independence, whereas a Paladin is the epitome of the power that comes from a binding vow. The Oathbreaker path in Baldur’s Gate 3 provides an attention-grabbing variation on the Paladin theme, however, by way of the choice I made and the dialogues I picked, I performed as a Bard for the whole sport.
Picture: Larian Studios
That’s, till it was time to free Orpheus. For individuals who haven’t performed the sport — or are nonetheless working by way of it at some point at a time primarily based in your relatably busy schedule — Orpheus is the long-lost chief of the Githyanki species, who’s saved prisoner contained in the Astral Prism, the artifact on the heart of most of Act 1 and Act 2 of the sport, the place the mysterious Emperor syphons his powers to guard you and your occasion from the mind-dominating affect of the Elder Mind. The time comes when, following the desires of your Githyanki companion Lae’zel, you come to free Orpheus, as he’s the one one who can lead his individuals to freedom from the tyrannic rule of a faux god, the Lich Queen Vlaakith.
Whereas this quest is optionally available, I freed Orpheus as a result of I had Lae’zel in my occasion for the reason that starting, and I had come to understand her as a companion. Additionally, the liberty of a complete species felt sort of vital, a price that resonated with the character of my character. Nevertheless, as I launched Orpheus from his shackles, I additionally discovered that, to defeat the Netherbrain, I solely had two decisions: rework Orpheus right into a Thoughts Flayer (thus stopping him from changing into the messiah of his individuals), or flip into one myself. The sport presents this option to you all of a sudden and solely with a short rationalization, so I finished to ponder my plan of action for some time. My character’s drive was freedom, and to do away with the worm-shaped enslaving machine the Illithid had put in his mind. Turning into one of many creatures I loathed a lot was revolting in additional methods than one. Nevertheless, the destiny of a complete galactic civilization was at stake, so I made a decision to do the precise factor and take the bullet. In the intervening time, it made sense to sacrifice my freedom for that of numerous others, and maybe, it was my Paladin facet lastly coming to mild, making sense of my construct.
It did shock me, nevertheless, that none of my companions appeared to significantly care about my selection, particularly my romantic associate, Karlach. She actually had zero feedback for my sudden squid-like type! Progressive, perhaps, however as somebody excited to see each consequence play out on display screen, it felt like an oversight from Larian. Not that I used to be searching for pity or recognition for saving a complete species, however that made my painful selection really feel irrelevant. Later, after having needed to endure the whole last combat(s) of the sport in Illithid type (however I made a degree to by no means use the powers this kind granted me), I lastly reached the much-touted ending of Baldur’s Gate 3, the place all of the story threads come to unravel and also you get to witness the conclusion not simply to your story, however to that of all of your companions. Besides that didn’t occur.
Lae’zel and Orpheus departed for his or her area campaign with out asking me to accompany them. Standing alone on the docks of Baldur’s Gate, I contemplated my destiny. Having an Illithid physique apparently comes with the Illithid intuition to homicide, enslave, and eat brains (besides that, throughout the sport, you meet one pleasant Illithid who’s resistant to the worst impulses of his species), so I used to be once more put in entrance of a selection: Would I hold dwelling, risking to lose what was left of my character and maybe at some point harm the individuals I really like, or would I take my very own life? I made a decision on the latter, as I used to be firmly set on the hero path by then, and it made no sense to step away on the finish. Once more, this selfless act was ignored by my romance associate, who watched me plunge a knife in my guts with no response. Additionally, with out me, Karlach didn’t have anybody to persuade her to return to Avernus earlier than her engine overheated (besides, you already know, the opposite eight individuals she had shared this lengthy and loopy journey with), so she immolated. The tip. Roll credit.
Picture: Larian Studios by way of epicgamejourney
I made what appeared like the 2 most selfless decisions in the whole sport, and my reward was a two-minute-long sequence with Withers chatting up my soul within the void. I didn’t get to see what occurred to my companions, as I used to be excluded by the well-known “six months later” playable epilogue that Larian added in patch 5, which accommodates 3,589 new traces of dialogue. (I used to be lifeless, duh.) After years spent taking a look at all these cool endings on-line — I couldn’t assist myself — I used to be given the saddest, most nameless conclusion to my 200-plus hours of gameplay. As a result of I made a decision to do the precise factor.
I’m conscious that the definition of “doing the precise factor” varies for every particular person, nevertheless it was attention-grabbing to note that Larian determined to reward what’s often thought of heroic habits in such a setting with the least attention-grabbing and thrilling ending you will get within the sport. With all of the loopy magic on this planet of D&D, it wasn’t unthinkable that my pals, or the hundreds of thousands of individuals whose lives I saved, might discover somebody capable of carry out a Resurrection or Reincarnation spell. (And earlier than you point out that Illithid do not need souls, the ultimate sequence with Withers confirmed the alternative.) Or, no less than, I might have watched over the epilogue occasion in Scrooge-like style, attending to witness how life went on with out me. Or, you already know, the lady who was in love with me might have spared one phrase when she noticed me take my life.
Baldur’s Gate 3 stays a monumental milestone in video video games and RPG historical past, regardless of what I really feel was inconsistent storytelling. Some elements and characters are glorious, others felt rushed and underbaked. Maybe, that is an inherent flaw with the endlessly increasing tales which are being instructed in video games. Baldur’s Gate 3 has dozens of endings, and a few of them really feel much less stable than the others. My response to it is perhaps one more twist on the anything-is-possible method. By incorporating so many endings and so many decisions, Larian ended up relinquishing management of having the ability to ship a satisfying conclusion 100% of the time. The gamble is profitable play for immersion, however for me, a failure by way of telling a whole and fulfilling story.
