It takes a lot for a game to grab me these days. It has to present both a world and characters I’ve never seen before, combined with ingenious mechanics that achieve new things the medium has never previously been capable of. A perfect storm of quality that doesn’t come around very often. I remember this happening withBloodborneduring my first year of university. I had to play an unpatched version without Wi-Fi while I was living in halls, but it didn’t stop me and a few friends from slowly making our way through the classic as we wandered the cold, wet streets of Yarnham piecing together our own stories.
Bloodborne burrowed into our minds and refused to let go, infiltrating our every waking thought. While they are very different games, I recall similar hyperfixations withStardew Valley,The Last of Us Part 2,Cyberpunk 2077, andFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. When my brain decides it adores a thing, chances are it will do everything in its power to make me engage with it until it burns out.Baldur’s Gate 3sits snugly alongside this company, and while I haven’t been able to play it as much as I’d like in this busy season, not a day passes when I don’t think about it.
While it attracted a passionate audience during its early access period, nobody expected the RPG to take over the world quite like it did. Millions have fallen in love with Shadowheart, Karlach, Astarion, Lae’zel, and co. while simultaneously developing an admiration for the actors who helped bring them to life. A natural sense of community which has always permeated Dungeons & Dragons has been given a new lease of life thanks to an RPG that not only understands the beautiful malleability of tabletop, but leans into everything we expect from gathering around a dungeon master with friends to carve out our own adventures.
The sex, violence, humour, passion, surprise, and emotion that Larian has managed to deliver in this game is incomparable. Even as we hit credits and clear our first playthrough, it’s abundantly clear that the majority of players are happy to play through this game again and again. Because, like a fine wine, it only gets better with time.
I have several friends and colleagues who started second playthroughs before even getting close to finishing their first, either due to a fascination with co-op or a need to entertain new classes or romance options without damaging what they already have. I did the same before settling on my first proper character, and still have niggling doubts about whether I made the wrong decisions. But the brilliant thing is, even if I did, Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t care.
Every decision matters, but you’re also encouraged to make mistakes and embrace any and all permutations that surface from your experience. In speaking to colleagues, I glimpse bits of the game I either haven’t seen yet or might never witness for myself. Social media is filled with clips and screenshots I have no context for, thus lighting a fire of excitement in my heart - one not burning with jealousy or FOMO, but the anticipation that once I finally have time for this game in my life, I will love every minute of it. Until then however, it still invades my thoughts.
Whether I’m discovering you can own a winged pet cat or receiving anecdotes of the saucy nature from colleagues about how they’ve shagged a pair of Drow twins I haven’t even met yet, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in the world of video games who isn’t living and breathing Baldur’s Gate 3 in some way. It also capitalises on my ADHD and OCD in a good way for once, forgiving me for being overly anal or overlooking things that should otherwise be obvious to most people. No matter how you end up playing or what you want to get out of it, Baldur’s Gate 3 welcomes any and all playstyles, facilitating triumph or mistakes in equal measure to create an RPG that hasn’t pierced the mainstream in such a way since Skyrim. I can’t stop thinking about it, you can’t stop thinking about it, and I doubt that is going to change any time soon.
Next:I Can’t Stop Myself From Making Up Baldur’s Gate 3 Spin-Offs
