A mod gives the role-playing hit Baldur’s Gate 3 a whole new perspective. Literally. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus played the cRPG in third person and is… torn.
On July 21, the “True Third-Person Camera” mod for Baldur’s Gate 3 was released (on Nexus Mods) and has made quite a splash. Big enough that I wanted to take a look for myself, even though I usually don’t like mods at all.
Having spent over 530 hours in Baldur’s Gate 3, I saw a chance to experience the game completely differently – more like Dragon Age or the old Divinity 2, two of my absolute favorite games or series.
While Larian has now introduced official mod support, installing this one required a few more steps, including using a dedicated mod manager. I then played my current run for about three hours with two major battles and a lot of exploration. Was the effort worth it? I’ll be honest: not really, at least not for me.
I see things now that I never noticed before …
Aside from the controls, the mod really couldn’t grab me, especially since the focus through the new perspective lay on completely different things in the environment. Instead of a game whose world I find totally immersive, I sometimes get blurry textures that I really shouldn’t have seen.
First of all, the “True Third-Person Camera” mod is still unpolished in some places. It requires reactivating the camera after changing areas and is only truly playable either with the WASD mod for mouse and keyboard or with a controller. The latter is particularly unusual for me as a long-time cRPG player … at best.
Especially near waterfalls, I noticed that they look like the static of an old television. Plants and other environmental details move oddly – which worked from the iso perspective, of course.
Then there are of course some glitches like the camera getting stuck in rocks or collisions with NPCs and other things. The developer is already working on fixing issues, but that doesn’t help for smooth gameplay at first.
… but now I see things I never noticed before!
This new perspective that I just criticized has also given me a few “Oh!” moments. I was able to discover many details in the world that I had never seen before. It makes sense, if the camera is in the sky, you don’t look up.
However, in third person, I did exactly that more often and I noticed how many details Larian considered that probably nobody ever sees, such as:
- a stone lattice that serves as the roof of the druid grove, completely without trees
- detailed statues that look roughly hewn from above but make quite an impression up close
- or simply the view into the distance to enjoy the world – for example, I just stood by the river for a while and admired the forest
These scenes are more than just a bit pretty and really impressed me, although I probably would have been satisfied with just a photo mode. The mod just made me aware of that.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece just the way it is
There are a few other points that have not convinced me about the new perspective. I was most looking forward to battles, as those in other role-playing games in third person are a lot of fun.
However, Baldur’s Gate 3 is still a turn-based cRPG, and the camera switches to an overview from above as soon as combat starts. Exactly where I could have celebrated the mod, it doesn’t work. Recognizing traps or properly controlling characters – climbing is really cumbersome from this viewpoint – was also made more difficult.
When companions bicker or chat (banter
), it is audible, but those who want to read the text need to turn around. Isometrically, what is spoken simply appears on the screen. The gameplay of the game, which I (and millions of others) adore so much, simply suffers too much for me to enjoy the few advantages.
Although I personally couldn’t recommend the mod, I understand why it has such an appeal. It promises a fresh gaming experience and … even if it can’t fully deliver on that, it is still a “different” way to play. So for those who want to invest another 100 hours after 2,000 hours, “True Third-Person” can certainly motivate you more easily. For me, it’s just not for me.
What do you think of the idea? Have you tried the mod? Or do you prefer to play a game as “intended by the developers”? Leave a comment!
Personally, I still have enough to do in Baldur’s Gate 3, enough to get plenty of hours without a mod. I still want to see two different endings with the Dark Desire alone. And my current run is already changing a lot: I’ve already spent 520 hours in Baldur’s Gate 3, now I’m experiencing a completely new story because I’m doing one thing differently
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