There are many ways to play Baldur’s Gate 3. But is there a wrong way? A Reddit user shared a story about a friend and his gaming experience – the community can only shake their heads at it.
Which player is it about? On Reddit, the user Dabohl has spoken up with a special story. It’s not about himself, but a friend who dared to play Baldur’s Gate 3.
It’s daring because this friend, according to Dabohl, usually doesn’t play games of this kind. Over the following weeks, the friend kept reporting on his experiences. And one day, he suddenly finished the game.
Anyone who has played Baldur’s Gate 3 knows: it takes time. Some take their sweet time, like MeinMMO editor Leya Jankowski. Or one is really fast, like the various speedrunners.
The mentioned friend belongs to neither group. Nevertheless, the Reddit user Dabohl was surprised when he saw on Steam that his friend had completed the game in just about 60 hours.
The friend sought help from the internet
How did the friend play the game? Dabohl wanted to know exactly and asked. How could his friend finish the game so quickly?
Apparently, it has to do with several factors. On the one hand, the friend utilized the consolidated knowledge of the internet and made use of powerful builds. He also researched where to find the best items, making many battles easier for himself.
Some encounters with enemies were very easy for him – others, however, were very difficult. That made Dabohl suspicious. As it turned out, his friend ignored all side quests and stubbornly followed the main quest.
This led to his character being under-leveled at certain points in the game. He claimed to have dealt with the final boss by sending in the “bomb guy”. This refers to the companion Gale.
There are spoilers for Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3.
How does Gale help against the “final boss”? At the latest, it became clear to the Reddit user. Those who know Gale’s story are aware that towards the end of Act 2, there’s an option to blow him up. In doing so, the final boss, the Absolute, dies, and the game ends immediately.
Act 3 and the titular city of Baldur’s Gate are then not seen. Just as little as about a third of the remaining game.
This ending is mostly chosen by speedrunners, or people who want to see Gale explode. The Reddit user’s friend probably thought he was taking an easy route. And he also thought that this was the actual end of the game.
Overall, he was left feeling unsatisfied. He judged that Baldur’s Gate 3 was a mediocre game. The difficulty fluctuated too much, there was little to do, and after barely 60 hours, it was already over.
The community can laugh about it
How do other players react to the story? Under the post on Reddit, many comments have gathered, some more serious than others, judging the “wrong” play style:
- “So he played a game called Baldur’s Gate without seeing Baldur’s Gate,” writes Ok-Worldliness-7374.
- “What surprises me is: how can one not ask the question, what happens if one does not choose the bomb option?” asks OblongShrimp.
- “Such people don’t play role-playing games, they do a speedrun and then complain that the game wasn’t long enough or fun, after purposely ignoring all the fun parts,” says Bloodthistle.
- “Wait, he researched on purpose but didn’t wonder why he didn’t reach level 12 (max level)?” writes Kazodex.
In fact, the player doesn’t seem to have been particularly attentive during his gameplay. It’s definitely an amusing story.
And maybe after this first experience, he will give the game a second chance. This time with all side quests and the entire story: Baldur’s Gate 3 puts in enormous effort to deliver a good story even for those who play like a wrecking ball.
