Table of Contents

Post 1 (2023-12-22 14:08)
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I have finally completed Baldur’s Gate 3. I had full trust in the emperor until the wrym told me his true identity - that he had lied by omission. I had a lapse of faith but when the chips were down, I knew I never believed he had any ill intent. I let him take the stones and guide my party to the netherbrain where we killed it once and for all. Karlach’s heart was ready to burst just after - but I decided to go into the hells by her side and fight for a permanent life on the earth. The second screenshot is when it really hit me - the at least 130+ hours had all been worth it. The quests, the ventures, the worrying, the tough choices… I pulled through. I’m content.

Post 2 (2023-12-22 14:26)
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Baldur’s Gate 3 is extremely high quality. I enjoyed it very much. I love cRPGs. I love story-heavy stuff. I love lots of dialogue. As I’m reflecting back on the game, I’m feeling a void. There wasn’t any particularly memorable side quests. I wasn’t really engaged with the main story. Orin and Gortash had barely any depth to them, forget the netherbrain. There was hardly any grey morality. You get to choose if you want to be bad or if yo u want to be good. I’m wondering, why did I enjoy this? I did a lot of stuff in the game, but I feel like that’s all it was. I did stuff. It’s hollow to a degree. The only two companion characters I really liked were Karlach and Gale. Karlach had a sweet personality and Gale was, I don’t know, I guess I just vibed with him. Gale, right up until before the camp epilogue, was talking about becoming a god still. Then in the camp, talked about realizing there’s more to life than power. None of that development was shown. Lae’zel was just an asshole. Shadowheart was okay, a bit dull. Wyll also felt dull. A good person with a sort of interesting story, but so… flavorless. I gave up Astarion in act one to a hunter after I decided I couldn’t trust him. I’ve heard him acclaimed as a very well done character to the point I regret it a little but it was the right moral decision in my eyes. There were many choices in the game, but really, to what end? It’s a bit like a playground. You can click the different choices and see how it changes things. But it doesn’t make it feel any more impactful. I don’t know what I got out of this game, if anything. This is certainly something I’ll need to think more on. Before I had completed it I thought it was a done deal it would be in my favorite games of all time but the more I think the less good I think it really was. I feel almost deceived in a way. Why did I think I liked it so much while playing it? Maybe it was partially faith that at the end I would be able to look back and understand everything’s place in the product as a whole. That has not happened. Cyberpunk 2077 comes to mind as having really standout side quests. Stuff that makes you think. Interesting scenarios. Disco Elysium is my second favorite game ever in backloggd at the moment. When I think if Baldur’s Gate 3 deserves to be next to it, the first thing to pop in my head is “Gods no”.

Misc.
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The underdark was way too long. Act one did not need to be as long as it did. I wanted to leave it around 10 hours before I managed to complete all the content in the underdark. Yes, it wasn’t necessary for me to do that to proceed with the game, but that doesn’t change the point about the content of it.

That House of Hope song was fire.