Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently one of the most talked about video games. To the uninitiated, the game is based on the popular fantasy RPG Dungeons & Dragons. It’s something I’ve never played before but it’s been on my list of things to try one day. After playing Baldur’s Gate 3 it makes me want to play it even more. The game’s created by Belgian developers Larian Studios who you may know for the Divinity franchise.
I’d heard about Baldur’s Gate while it was in early access for PC but didn’t have any interest in it. Turn-based games aren’t usually my type of game but then I played Marvel’s Midnight Suns and want to do more. But, my real reason for playing was down to its cast. As a massive Resident Evil fan, I’d heard about the game through Neil Newbon’s Twitch streams. As an aside, you can catch Neil (Astarion’s actor) playing through the game on Twitch.
So, that was my deal – only playing it for certain actors. But that was before I realised how hard the game would grip me. I bought the Deluxe edition of the game so I could play it before its official release on the PS5.
Character Customisation
When I created my character I must have spent at least over an hour to perfect her. Of course, some of that was also because I didn’t know the D&D classes and needed to research. As for species you can choose from human, Elf, Drow, Tiefling and Dragonborn, as well as many others. This is only skimming the surface of the customisation where you can choose to have two different colored eyes, scars, facial hair and genitals.
That’s not to mention the D&D classes and subclasses to decide if your character is magical, strong or a bit of a trickster. You’ve also got a range of choices for voices too and for my tav, I chose Emerald O’Hanrahan (who I only realised was a villain in one of my favorite Assassin’s Creed games). I’d easily spend a day creating different characters within the customiser because there are that many options.
Not a Campaign but a Cam…pleasure
An RPG is only as good as its choices and story. Baldur’s Gate 3 has both in spades. Before the game was released it was revealed there were at least 174 hours of cutscenes. You won’t see all of them in one playthrough so you can replay without getting bored of the same scenes. Of course, you’ll only get them if you make different choices.
Even though I racked up over 80 hours in my playthrough, I missed several quests and a companion or two. Your companions can be with you from the beginning to the end or you can kill them when you meet them and block yourself from some great character development.
The story begins with the main character waking up on an Illithid ship that’s in the middle of an attack. They realise there’s a worm in their brain that’ll turn them into a Mindflayer. The main crux is you and your companions journeying to find a cure for your problem. However, along the way, a conspiracy rears its ugly head you’ll need to fight. For those who like to play a little dangerously, you may even be able to aid the evil instead.
That’s the beauty of Baldur’s Gate 3 – you choose your destiny. The plot on paper is boilerplate, we’ve heard it before, but Larian doesn’t play it safe. They give you a tale as old as time but with their spin on it that forces you to tumble through many emotions as you explore Faerun.
However, as much as I love the main story, it’s the companion quests that really pulled me in. Where some games give you companion quests that don’t mean much overall, it’s not like that here. Decisions you make within your companion’s quests may change the story, as well as your relationship.
For example, Shadowheart’s quest leads to a climax that changes not only her fate but a few others too. Then you’ve got Astarion’s quest to tug at your heartstrings while you desperately try to help him. Again, you have choices that change the type of person he becomes. When it comes to making that decision, the storytelling is beautiful and haunting. These two quests are only the tip of the iceberg as the others are just as incredible. But, there’s no use in more teasing when you can experience them for yourself.
The Voices Behind the Characters
While the writing is sublime for the majority of the game, let’s not forget the other side that brings the words to life. Larian has assembled an incredible cast of actors for their characters. I mean, just look at their villains. The main three villains are voiced by J.K Simmons, Jason Isaacs and Maggie Robertson (another Resident Evil actor!) They all play their parts deliciously well but the calibre of actors doesn’t stop there.
The companion actors are as follows: Jennifer English (Shadowheart), Neil Newbon (Astarion), Devora Wilde (Lae’Zel), Theo Solomon (Wyll), Tim Downie (Gale), Samantha Béart (Karlach), Tracy Wiles (Jaheira), Dave Jones (Halsin) and Matthew Mercer (Minsc). Each of them brings their A-game which makes it difficult to choose who to bring with you on your adventure. My team was mostly made up of Shadowheart, Karlach and Astarion until Act 3. There, I changed Astarion for Gale or Lae’Zel for more firepower.
That’s not to forget the Narrator, Amelia Tyler. Her soothing yet powerful voice is hypnotizing, making you hang onto her every word as she expertly guides us through the campaign.
This fabulous cast is in my pantheon of favorite video game casts alongside the likes of The Last of Us, God of War and Resident Evil.
The only issue I’ve run into with the game is several bugs, especially in Act 3. Act 1 is pretty light on the bugs as it’s been in development for longer and there were times I had to reload or step away for a while. However, it didn’t dampen my love for the game. Larian has a patch coming soon which may have fixes for these issues but if not I know they’ll get around to it eventually. They’ve already shown they’re listening and I couldn’t be more grateful to them for this incredible game.
They say don’t believe the hype but when it comes to Baldur’s Gate 3 you should always believe the hype.
