After conquering the gaming industry, Baldur’s Gate 3 has been receiving patches since its launch to further improve a title that already won Game of the Year in 2023. Since then, Larian Studios has made seven patches for its golden goose, ranging from adding mod support to changing of a companion (Minthara) so that they can be recruited in a morally good campaign. There has been very little that has not been added BG3 and one of the most requested features, crossplay, is still planned.
After seven updates, it looks like Larian is finally starting to slow down work BG3with Swen Vincke, studio CEO, teasing new projects away from the Baldur’s Gate IP and the world of Dungeons and Dragons. It feels like the right time, as the community can now add all the content they want with the best mod support, but there is still one feature missing that would have made Baldur’s Gate 3 an even better game. Companion interactions are great, but there could be an improvement in group dynamics.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Needed More Camp Party Interactions
Most players may not know that Gale is the camp cook
Although Baldur’s Gate 3 companions have become very popular thanks to their charisma and strongly defined characters that develop throughout the game, there’s not a lot of interaction between all of them, especially if there’s not a lot of conflict there. There are small interactions between companions during the exploration of the world, but these only happen between two characters, although there is room for four in an adventuring group. There are also very few interactions in life that give players a better idea of ​​what friendship between two characters is like.
A good example of this is when Wyll mentions that he wants to prepare a meal to celebrate in BG3third act, and claims that Gale is the camp chef, so he’ll have to convince him to let him cook that night. Unfortunately, there’s no scene of Wyll cooking, and it could have been funny to see Gale preside over him as Gordon Ramsay while the Blade of Frontiers tried to make a meal fit for kings. Karlach or Astarion could have been played for laughs at the whole situation, making the scene extravagant despite the story pressures of the final act.
Most scenes only happen because of conflict pointslike when Shadowheart and Lae’zel try to kill each other in the Astral Prism, or when the rest of the group discovers that Astarion is a vampire, but the group members clearly have friendships. Minthara even shows that she has a heart and admits that she thinks of Gale as a friend, but this scene only happens if players use the wizard as an avatar character. More scenes are needed to show these relationships, as sometimes it seems like Minsc and Jaheira are the only friends.
Life at Tav’s Camp Could Have Added Lightness
Companions need to show their relationships with each other
Some companions develop relationships over time BG3but this is not shown openly during the camp. For example Wyll is willing to go to hell with Karlach so she won’t be alone showing that they started as enemies and ended the game as friendsbut more interactions could be done to show this. Maybe Tav will find them while they’re talking about the deadliest demon they’ve killed as some sort of competition and can talk about who they think is the more dangerous warrior of the two. Even this scene would help bridge the gap between enemy and friend.
Astarion likes to tease Gale, at least behind his back and in some interactions during the adventures, but there could have been a scene showing this. There are also relationships that don’t seem to have much that could be expanded upon, like Halsin and Jaheira. Halsin clearly respects the High Harperbut there is no indication that the two think highly of each other. Perhaps a scene where they compare the weirdest animals they’ve turned into could have been a fun theme, especially considering how sarcastic Jaheria is and how calm Halsin acts.
In a way, Baldur’s Gate 3 He has that, but not with his teammates. There’s a nighttime scene where Owlet gets scared and spends the night with Scratch, who decides to be a sort of big brother to Owl. A scene like this one at night with Shadowheart, Astarion and Karlach gossiping and laughing could have been added in the same line. Of course, the main story scenes would take priority over these life scenes, but there is no punishment for taking too many long rests, so having too many scenes is not a problem.
BG3’s Cast Gives Fans What the Game Couldn’t
D&D One Shots with the cast were amazing
How did Larian decide to move away from Baldur’s Gate series and the D&D PIit seems that the beloved cast of BG3 it probably won’t do much more with the Belgian studio. Despite this, the cast has been performing D&D One-shots together on the character and their interactions show elements of life that were not included in the game. It’s interesting to see what these characters do without Tav, Durge, or general player guidance, to see how their relationships work.
These one-shots were eye-opening in a way and show that Wizards of the Coasts could use the cast in more projects in the future if the cast members are willing, given how well they embodied these characters. There’s clearly more to show from the cast, and It’s likely that Larian Studios knows this too, as they’ve made some short, comedic animations of the BG3 escorts for promotional purposes. The studio has created such a captivating cast of characters that it always feels like fans have more to see.
It makes sense why Larian didn’t add more lifestyle scenes to the Baldur’s Gate 3since they are not vital to the story, nor is there a particular dearth of camping scenes, at least not in the first two acts. There is already an unfathomable amount of content in the game and Larian has already added a lot in the seven main patches to its golden goose. Still, the D&D one-shots featuring the cast show what slice-of-life scenes would have fleshed out the game’s characters, and hopefully this is something a talented modder will add in the future.