MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus has Baldur’s Gate 3 played through several times. Nevertheless, the role-playing game always attracts again – most recently with the idea of creating a character not made by oneself. The best decision in a long time and a clear recommendation to each of you out there, but with a caveat.
Like many others, Baldur’s Gate 3 is for me an absolute masterpiece and probably the best game of the last 20 years, perhaps ever. No wonder millions of fans are enthusiastic about it and invest absurd amounts of time.
I myself have played the game for over 520 hours and completed (almost) three full runs:
- once as Dark Urge, the dark desire (which is incidentally the canonically
true
story of Baldur’s Gate 3, if you look at who the Dark Urge really is) - the second time as Tav in Honour Mode for the fancy dice (and since then only with these rules, because the stronger bosses are incredibly fun)
- and a third time in co-op with friends, although we’re still working on that
Nevertheless, I let myself be tempted to start anew, just to try out the new classes from the last Patch 8. This time, however, I wanted to do something differently and did not create a character, but took one pre-made by Larian. I did not expect what was offered to me.
Shadowheart tells a completely different story than any Tav
Even before Baldur’s Gate 3, I played many Larian titles, especially from the Divinity series. From Original Sin 2, I know that the “Origins”, or pre-made characters, tell their own story while playing, which you miss if you create your own hero. This is because you only have four characters for the whole game and you have to choose early which ones they are.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, however, it is different, because you can constantly mix. Therefore, I did not expect to experience so much new here. But Larian has already proven that they consider every possibility and reward creativity.
As Shadowheart, I suddenly have completely new opportunities in the game. In dialogues, new conversation options are available to me that are exclusively open for “[Shadowheart]” and conversations with companions play out quite differently than I am used to with my Tavs.
What got me the most is that there are narrative events that you only see when Shadowheart speaks. I don’t want to spoil much, but already in the first act, the dark goddess Shar, to whom Shadowheart is devoted, is indeed important and the narrator has prepared several voice lines just for that.
Baldur’s Gate 3 thus no longer plays out like an open role-playing game in which a hero experiences an adventure according to my ideas, but like a narrative tale around an established character – like in The Witcher or Gothic.
Not more story, just a different one
The whole scenes that I have of course never seen as Tav or Dark Urge provide me with new insights into Shadowheart’s backstory. It is easier to understand who she is, where she comes from, and why she acts the way she does. In literature, this would be referred to as “internal focalization”.
However, this perspective also has a certain disadvantage, because: Shadowheart does not speak to me. How could she? I am her. Accordingly, I miss a lot of information that I have as Tav (or any other) that I get from conversations – such as reactions to certain things.
A Tav learns about a completely different Shadowheart than a player who controls the cleric herself. They can be two completely different stories, which ultimately represent only two halves of a whole.
Anyone who loves a character must play at least twice
I only get a complete picture of who a companion really is and what makes them tick if I play the game both as Tav and as the corresponding character. And each time I would have a new experience.
By now, I understand how people can spend over 2,000 hours in the game, even though I am still puzzled about how someone can still be stuck in Act 2 after over 1,200 hours. I would probably have gotten bored by then.
As much as Baldur’s Gate 3 promotes freedom, I can only recommend that everyone immerse themselves in the game without playing a personal character once. It truly feels different and delivers stories that you can’t experience otherwise.
However, finishing Baldur’s Gate 3 seems to be difficult for many people. A statistic shows that while the role-playing game has millions of players, only a few make it to the end: Only 1 in 4 players has completed Baldur’s Gate 3, but that’s extremely impressive
