So what’s happening now is, I’m in the Gauntlet of Shar, having done the trials, met one of the three Wise Men from Orient Are, and now I am on the hunt to kill a devil that some other devil wants dead, because Astarion thinks he’s not working for Devil #2, even though he totally is.
That guy has a really bad habit of becoming a puppet for powerful man-presenting beings. Astarion’s latest conquest is Balthazar’s brother, Dave the Investment Banker, who has been hitting the gym and the steroids pretty hard lately. You can see him in the picture above. Dave gave Astarion a little bell to ring in case he ever needs a night in shirtless ardor knight in shining armor to come rescue him.
We also befriended three ogres who will come when my PC, Harka, blows a horn. Dave and the Ogres, soon to be playing at a club near you, will only help once. There’s a little bit of paralysis here. Should I call them when we fight Devil #1? Or maybe Devil #2 is going to show up after? And then there is the Big Fight at the Moonrise Tower on the horizon. Or maybe I will finish the game without using Dave or the Ogres at all.
Mostly I feel like I am lurching from mistake to mistake in this game.
It wasn’t long after entering The Shadowed Lands that we encountered the Inn of the Last Light, guarded by the moon magic of Selune by the cleric Isobel. It was one bright, safe spot in the lands, home to the Harpers, and all I had to do was to keep her safe. I tried, twice, failed twice, guessed that maybe her abduction was scripted and I couldn’t do anything about it, then talked it over with a Team Spode friend and found out that lol no, of course you could save her, and things are gonna go pretty bad if you don’t.
And of course, things went straight to scheiss immediately after. I’d later find an empty tomb with her name on it, so either that was just someone else who randomly was named that and was super important to the Big Bad of Act 2 for some other reason, or there is a lot more to Isobel’s story than we were told. Maybe I’d have learned more if I hadn’t just let her be carried off by Marcus, Junior Birdman of the Eagle Scouts.
Instead, I just stood and happily waved as Marcus flapped off with Isobel and his tiny tiny wings, and then calmly turned and slaughtered every one of those Harpers Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.
Yay, go me!
That wasn’t the first time I screwed up. Even though I rescued all the tiefling refugees and killed the goblin leaders in the goblin camp, when I encountered Karlach finally, she accused me of killing them all. Also, I never met other origin character Wyll; never even saw him. Never found Gale until I looked up his location online and realized I hadn’t actually explored hardly any of the first wilderness map. And when I failed to save Isobel but eventually showed up to the Moonrise Tower anyway, they hailed me as a hero for capturing her and bringing her to them! I did no such thing!
I just didn’t really object too hard when Marcus took her. That’s not the same thing. Is it?
Anyway, among other dumb ideas I had was the whole half-orc war cleric thing to begin with. I was intending to replace her with the druid at some point, but even then, I kinda wanted to hit things, so Shadowheart is still in the group. I replaced Lae’zal with Gale once I’d found him, but I did bring her back for the Githyanki creche in Act 2 and in fact she is with me now in the Gauntlet of Shar.
So I respecced my character as a half-orc barbarian berserker, with a dip into thievery once I got some gloves that raised my dex to 18. Now I don’t really need to have Astarion in the group. I made him into a bard just to make him suffer.
So I have basically screwed up every possible way there is to screw up. Usually I read up on everything that is going to happen so that I don’t miss anything. I played FFXIII with the strategy guide on my lap at all times! I used to print out Gamefaqs back in the day!
This time, I was lured in by the promise that everything would just work out no matter what I did. The game would adapt and I would get to an ending that I had earned.
Really? But, really? I missed a couple cool companions because I didn’t have any idea where they were. The plot is a wreck. Pretty sure my combat stinks. Ah well.
But… I am having fun with it! I’m not giving up! It just seems inevitable that I’ll have to play again in order to experience the entire game, or at least more of it… and I hardly ever replay a game.
Well, anyway. I think I’ll respec everyone again. Just for fun.
Of all the bloggers writing about Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re the only one that makes me feel like I ought to go buy it and play it *right now*. Even so, still going to wait for a sale…
Someone game developer once said that most RPGs aren’t RPGs at all, because no choice you make affects the ending. Most of the Final Fantasy games, for example, have a path. You are going to fight the final boss and end the game.
By that rule, almost no main FF game would be an RPG.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an RPG. Many of the choices you make are significant, and no two players will play the game the same way. It’s a little frightening, to be honest.