Despite being released last year and winning the 2023 Game of the Year award, Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently doing what few other games have managed to do by having more active users in 2024 than in 2023. Larian’s constant updates and support for its golden goose have certainly helped in its continued popularity, and the game is so vast , with more options than most RPGs can even dream of that is practically infinitely replayable, especially with the recent mod support. The still growing popularity of Dungeons and Dragons it certainly helped BG3 in 2024 too.
A huge reason to Baldur’s Gate 3The company’s continued growth and success are all the little details that Larian put into the game. Many of them are playful, breaking the fourth wall in a very retro, CRPG way, like party members talking directly to the player whenever they are clicked on. Many little details are still being unearthed to this day despite the title being almost eighteen months old, and that means the average player still has a lot to discover even after half a dozen playthroughs.
Baldur’s Gate 3 detail breaks the fourth wall in the best way
Party members don’t like being poked
Party members, including a custom character Tav and Durge, will always have something to say whenever they are clicked on, such as Astarion insisting that the player shouldn’t touch him. There are also specific lines when a character is clicked repeatedly, which usually involves party members expressing their annoyance. What players may not know is that there are also specific voice lines when party members are clicked in stealth mode, and the repeated clicks irritate them just as much here as they do when they are standing still, if not more.
These voice lines, as shown in SuNStereOthe video on YouTube perfectly encapsulate the characters saying the lines while breaking the fourth wall in a hilarious way this is in line with many other CRPGs, such as the two Baldur’s Gate titles that came before. Wyll will be polite as always, calling the constant clicking an itch, while Astarion will tell the player to shut up, repeatedly. On the other hand, Minsc will completely go off topic, insisting that he’s trying to surprise Boo on his birthday, before wondering how old hamsters can get.
While funny, keeping these lines in character, even breaking the fourth wall, is important to making the game feel like it takes itself seriously and can have fun with itself. Yes, there’s the fun of Jaheira’s audacity, saying that she’s going to take the player’s toy away from them, but there’s also Minthara making a threat straight through the fourth wall, which fits perfectly since she is constantly threatening everything. Halsin even manages to flirt directly with the player, deciding that trying to hook up with the avatar character isn’t good enough.
Larian ensures BG3 uses everything gaming can offer
Rarely stops trying to be a movie
Thanks to being a top-down CRPG, Baldur’s Gate 3 has the advantage of not needing to hide the fact that it is a video game. Sure, the title has cinematic elements and cutscenes, but with player choices, constant playthroughs, and characters whose fates depend almost entirely on what the player chooses to do, it’s not like the game encourages people to keep their hands off their games. controller or keyboard. As it is a turn-based game, everything can happen at the player’s pace, but this means they must always be attentive.
Larian has never been afraid to remind his audience that they are playing a game, using narrators who speak directly to the player in several CPRG titles, for example. Still, this doesn’t affect the immersion, especially in the resounding success Baldur’s Gate 3, because the little, Whimsical details and line deliveries are always in keeping with the tone of the story at the moment and the character telling them. The fact that party members have specific lines of dialogue when clicked is a good example of this, but just one of many.
BG3 proved that consistent tone and writing can be more important than keeping players in the world for immersionespecially with regard to CRPGs. It allows Larian to write his games very neatly, mocking the player, as is the case with Divinity Original Sin 2 narrator almost constantly, while also keeping his players sucked into the worlds he creates. Larian games are unapologetically interactive and are not afraid, or perhaps not ashamed, of being video games.
Cinematic titles can learn from Baldur’s Gate 3
Interaction is the goal of the game medium
Of course, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a full CPRG rather than a cinematic title, although it has many cinematic elements. These cinematics were a huge step forward for Larian, requiring the development of the Divinity 4 engine look as good as they do, but one advantage of them is that the player needs to interact with them frequently. The player needs to be aware of what is happening so that, when a dialogue option appears, which so often happens, he can make the right choice. This only works because BG3 makes these choices matter.
In recent times, many AAA games have focused on cinematic elements in a way that can make them feel more like interactive films than video games. Having long cinematics isn’t always a problem, as long as the player still has to stay alert and interact, and the Norse God of War Games get around this with quick-time events alongside some of the best modern action games. Other games suffer from wanting too much to be a movie, and Stranding of Death is an example that has gained a reputation as a walking simulator occasionally interrupted by a movie.
It seems like an obvious statement, but games should be games and use the interactive environment in the best way possibletelling stories in a way that only games can. Many games have cinematics that go on for a long time without interaction or have gameplay sequences where the player is running away from an enemy but just needs to push the left stick forward while watching things happen on screen. Games need to ensure that players feel part of the story, rather than just being told a story, and Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the best examples of this.
Source: SuNStereO/Youtube
YouTube | SuNStereO – Spam clicking companions while they are sneaking in Baldur’s Gate 3