Once I stopped treating Baldur's Gate 3 like a video game, I finally got good at it (2024)

Video games are all about rules. From relatively realistic sports sims like EA FC 2024 to the creative powerhouse that is Minecraft, limits are in place to keep us, as players, from breaking the experience. The result is a shared acceptance of the rigid paradigms present, for better and worse. That is, until Baldur's Gate 3 came along.

Even open-world RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 and Skyrim, two hugely ambitious games in their own rights, impose strict demands. You have set locations and characters if you want to progress the main story. You have limited dialogue options. If an idea doesn't work, you have to accept the outcome. All of this is perfectly fine, and has actually become a comfort to a fan such as myself. No matter what game I'm playing, I know where I'm at based on these shared principles. Funnily enough, Larian's masterpiece punished me for this.

Baldur's Gate 3 possesses many of the hallmarks I described, but to truly click with what's on offer, you have to ease your reliance on the traditional RPG ways. You have to abandon all preconceived notions and bring your imagination into play. Once this dawned on me, I felt like I'd unlocked some Illithid power.

Roll for perception

It started small. During the course of my fledgling playthrough (I'm still only in Act One), I came across a group of people trying to gain entry to a burning building. With their ally trapped inside, they threw themselves upon my Drow's mercy, and I humbly accepted their pleas. Sadly, my handsome rogue lacked the robust frame to force an access point (I rolled a three). "That's that," I thought. I looked around for another route and tried talking to every character in sight, but I couldn't find any route forward. I had hit what appeared to be the end of a potential side quest before it began. In any of the other games I mentioned above, this would likely be the case.

But as I turned away, I realized I could click on the door. Why would the game allow that if there wasn't some other option? So, I did what any skinny-wristed guy would do, and I commanded Lae'zel to strike the burning entryway with her new hammer. Success! I was through, and we did indeed save our new friends' ally. Sure, I probably could've helped the other guy who was now buried under rubble if I had been quicker, but a win is a win.

The thing is, the game never expressly told me to try this, or to even think this way. I'd become so used to most video games' tight rules of play, that it didn't occur to me to use my imagination anymore. This revelation may seem odd when I'm talking about Larian Studios, but Baldur's Gate 3 is my first foray into the developer's work, and finally stepping out of the video game lane I'd come to know, I wasn't prepared for the freedom on offer.

Armed with this new insight, I set forth on my next adventure. In a gruesome cave I uncovered a bunch of enormous spiders, but as I took aim to shoot them with my crossbow, realized that the bridge they were standing on was blocking my shot. Seeing the structure was made only of webbing, I clicked on it and saw it had HP. I knew what to do next. I released a bolt, tore the walkway to shreds, and dropped the big beasty on its butt. I could feel the passed perception check in my mind as I smugly stood over my foe, with Shadowheart launching a fireball to quite literally cook the critter before they could react.

While the idea of using brute force or exploiting weaknesses in objects isn't original to Baldur's Gate 3, the RPG presents its world in such a way that nothing seems obvious while everything feels possible. We're a far cry from the red explosive barrels of Resident Evil 4 in terms of visual language, yet using explosive props is just as likely in Larian's creation. The sandbox that the Belgian developer has created rewards imagination unlike any other contemporary title I've played because it makes everything feel natural, to the point where I realized my own vision was impaired by my time with stricter titles.

In this way, I finally understand how Baldur's Gate 3 transcends video games, proudly wearing the influence of its source material, Dungeons & Dragons, and I feel like a better player because of it. It's the essence of childhood play. It's making your own fun in a world free from the same old rules. It's why we play games in the first place.

If you're still chasing the highs of Baldur's Gate 3, here are the 25 best RPGs you can (and should) play right now

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