Baldur's Gate 3 Has Ruined My Life

My inattentive brain will never learn: RPGs are kryptonite. Yet somehow, Larian has surpassed even the zaniest of ADHD-addled expectations.

One of the things I love most about video games is that they can wholly encapsulate a cultural zeitgeist at any given time. I don’t even mean so-called innovative games which defy traditional design, or beautifully programmed releases which include gameplay that’s never been seen before. I’m referring to those all-consuming moments, when in rare instances, the Internet comes together in perfect harmony and cohesion. I’m talking about those moments when, whether you’re a diehard gamer of old or fresh on the block, gamers coalesce as one to love or hate a new release.

The latest addition to this pop-cultural fiefdom is Baldur’s Gate 3, a roleplaying game based on the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and universe. Much as everyone lavished praise on Elden Ring, and in the same breath banished Gollum’s titular entry to the unplayable, Baldur’s Gate 3 treads the path for this period’s cultural cornerstone. I include myself as a recent addition to this heartwarming, Bhaals-to-the-wall, Baldurian cult.

To add more, better context: my boyfriend and I are keen players of the table top game upon which BG3 is based, affectionately dubbed ‘D&D’. As this may imply, both he and I are keen consumers of fiction and story (he warns that the bookshelf in my room is on the cusp of collapsing under the weight of too many words), which in all honesty has helped keep our souls very much intact amidst the greying cynicism of corporate London. You have no right to believe someone as scatterbrained and delusional such as myself, but I see your scepticism and raise you Neil Gaiman’s exceptional take on fiction and escapism.

In short, we plunge ourselves into fantasy worlds, with squid-people, goblins, and a painfully optimistic friendship system (seriously, I’m way too socially awkward for any of these conversation options to manifest positively in real life) in order to glean something from it, and re-emerge back into our duller worlds anew. It is through fictional, beautiful lies in which truth may be told - and BG3 is no exception to this rule of fiction.

So when I found myself redundant in 2023, and rejected from more roles I applied for than I’ve had hot dinners, I was astonished by the ways in which fiction informed my coping strategies far more than an NHS-funded CBT leaflet could. I was astonished by the stories worth telling, the ones that left a mark on me, that encouraged me to gather my party and try again the next dawn.

Baldur’s Gate 3 share all these stories and much, much more.

So why do pro-gamers and newbies alike all love Baldur's Gate 3, even if one’s D&D knowledge is thin, and we never played the game’s predecessors?

For one, BG3’s gameplay bridges the gap for players, old and new. There is a necessity for pre-thought and strategy - you can’t just mash Square in the hopes of achieving any kind of combat fruition - whilst incorporating structured, turn-based rules, so you’re never (unfairly) taken by surprise.

If reaction time is not your forté, like myself, you'll appreciate being able to line up actions for your gaggle of adventurers and incite them one by one. 

More importantly, it's a game that prides itself on character arcs, developing intra-game relationships, and storytelling. Player choices have consequences, and playing things selectively, smartly, is better than running in with swords and spell slots blazing. I make an exception here for Fireball. There is never a bad time to shoot off Fireball.

When my boyfriend forewarned me that he had spent over 80 hours playing this game in the span of ten days (look, unemployment hit us both), I scoffed at his apparent weakness, in disbelief a video game could enthrall this PhD-level mind with such ease.

I ordered the game soon after, indelibly curious, cluelessly arrogant.

It’s been just over two months now since I first set my customised character’s illithid-tainted boots in Faerun. I have clocked up nearly 300 hours.

Yes, the gameplay is impeccable. And yes, there is nothing more satisfying than the Level Up sound effect that takes place after accruing a certain amount of experience.

But what’s really taken me in are the characters. The stories. The inevitability of difficult choices being made, with no real wins set out before you. Coming to terms with loss and challenges. Understanding that life deals your party a pretty rough hand - it’s in your hands as the player to determine what they make of it.

I’d like to say I’m thankful for this game. For being such a profound outlet for Gaiman-esque type of escapism. And I am.

But also, having cancelled a number of social plans in the pursuit of progressing my character’s relationship with a traumatised vampire, I am not afraid to announce: Baldur’s Gate 3 has ruined my life.