Other than preparation for and then hosting a Pathfinder Second Edition one-shot, I spent my entire weekend playing Baldur’s Gate 3. I was finally able to play it in more than drips and drabs (which, for me, meant an hour or two at a time, since I won’t bother to turn my computer on for anything else). I wound up starting a new game with two friends and then taking this large chunk of time to wrap up loose ends, finish map exploration, and, in the wee hours of the morning, finish the main quest points of Act 1. I rescued Halsin, helped the Tieflings, dealt with a swamp witch, got to absolutely wreck some weaker enemies with my brand new level 5 abilities (still haven’t cast Fireball, though, since I mismanaged Wyll’s spell slots and forgot to short rest before the next fight), and prepared myself for an underground adventure. After this, I’m moving into entirely new territory (I never did the Underdark stuff in Early Access) and I’m excited to play chunks of the game I’ve never encountered before.

Playing a character with the Dark Urge origin is still an odd experience, though I’ve started to get a better sense of when my choices might result in bloodshed I did not intend and when it is a little safer to let the monster within smell the roses. Also, I got a shnazzy cape from this origin and, as a rogue, it is ABSOLUTELY the best magic item ever (it turns me invisible every time I kill an enemy), so I can pretty much always get a kill shot now that I’m doing average damage in the upper teens or low twenties. I’m still nervous about how these choices might impact my party, but so far they don’t seem to have noticed much. Even despite getting more inspiration from my Dark Urge character than any other two characters put together (I killed a bunch of unconscious enemies since I’d forgotten I’d turned “nonlethal” on for part of the swamp witch quest line and got a “killing spree” achievement and related inspiration). Since the squirrel-murder and the person-murder events, I haven’t had any new horrible moments, but I’ve also chosen to lean a bit further away from anything that might indulge that dark voice, despite loving the main benefit from this character origin I’ve gotten so far. I don’t think I’m going to lean into it much more with this character, since I don’t want to lose access to portions of the game or particular characters, but I will probably do a run of the character in the future that leans into it a bit more in the future. Probably not my second run, but maybe my third.

It’s kind of weird, to be thinking about doing a second run of a game when I’m not even entirely through my first run of the game (beyond the thoughts of which NPC I’d like to romance), but there’s just so much in this game that I can’t help but note what it might be an interesting option for another playthrough in my game. Plus, there’s enough characters with their varied interestes that I could probably build a decent party no matter how I played and for any other events, there’s always the hirelings system. I’m already wondering how the game might turn out if I made one of any number of different choices, and the temptation to start a new file so I can explore some of them hand-in-hand with my current playthrough is extremely alluring. The only thing stopping me is that I really need to focus on just this one save file and however many dozens of hours it’ll take me to finish it before I even dream of doing more. Also, I might buy it for my PS5 when it comes out, just so I can run two game simultaneously in a way that keeps them separate in my mind. Having cross platform saving is a big deal, since it’ll mean being able to relax on my couch if I want to, or tuck myself away in my computer room if I’d rather do that. Maybe I’ll do that as a late birthday present for myself, since the PS5 version won’t be out until the sixth of September.

I haven’t been this excited to endlessly play a game in a long time. It’s holding my attention even better than my past two big CRPGs, Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Sure, I played hundreds of hours of each of those (and technically still haven’t finished Wrath of the Righteous since I apparently messed up the steps for the ending I wanted and didn’t realise it until it was forty hours too late to reload my save, which kinda killed my desire to play the game), but I mostly just got into them as a means of escapism. They were fun, crunchy, and interesting, but they didn’t really have the variety and gorgeousness that Baldur’s Gate 3 has. I mean, not many games can really compare BG3, since few of them have had the financing, time, and application of experience that were brought to BG3’s development. Which, you know, doesn’t make the Pathfinder games bad or anything. I just play them for very different reasons than I play BG3. If ever play them again, anyway. It’s difficult to commit that kind of time to anything these days, especially when there’s other, new stuff for me to play that is decidedly less work to enjoy. As fun as crunchy stuff is, I mostly just want to relax and have fun when I play video games these days, not spend hours pouring over feats, magic items, and how to get a dozen miniscule buffs to stack so that I’m basically invincible. While I’m perfectly competent at that style of play, I’ve never been particularly interested in it as a source of fun. I’ve always done it as a means to achieve the parts I enjoyed.

Honestly, Baldur’s Gate 3 feels like it was made specifically for me. Lots of weighty choices that actually alter the game and what might happen in the long run, tons of dialogue, lots of variety based on any number of character choices (background, ancestry, class, available items, etc), and all the RPG flavor I’ve always wanted but so rarely been able to enjoy from the perspective of the player rather than the storyteller. Aside from the ability to save and reload (which I’m mostly using to avoid doing anything with my Dark Urge character that would ruin the fun for me), this feels a lot like I’m playing an actual tabletop game in a one-on-one session with a GM rather than like I’m playing a video game. Playing with other people has brought the video gamey-ness back, but I don’t really think I’m looking for as in-depth a roleplaying experience with them as I would if I was playing alone. With them, it’s more fun to get up to weird shit with all our modestly sociopathic characters (we’re doing an evil play-through and I’m a blond, elrond-looking-ass Elf who is a manipulator and uncaring killer, who looks and acts like a member of one of those Black Metal band members that disappears from public eye only to pop back up later on when they’re on trial for murder or cannibalism or something like that) than to try to pick a moral code or engage too deeply with the roleplaying side of evil characters. We’re not quite murderhobos, though, that would require more emotional investment on our part than we’re willing to give. We’re mostly “stand back and watch” type characters rather than the “kill because its convenient” type. Which means I get to see a lot of stuff happen I probably wouldn’t in a play-through on my own since, no matter what I do, I’m rarely passive.

I’m going to need to sprinkle some other games, books, and shows into my weeks, just so I’ve got stuff to talk about that isn’t Baldur’s gate 3, but it is mighty tempting to dive into this game with every free hour I can cobble together. I really shouldn’t, though. I’ve got a lot of other stuff going on. At least I’ve got something super tempting to do while relaxing, now. I just need to figure out how to make myself stop so I’m not playing until almost five in the moring on a work night. Again.