"It Ruined Quests For Me" - Baldur's Gate 3 Has A Lot To Teach Other RPGs
12.10.2023 - 20:56
/ screenrant.com
/ Jennifer Britain
/ An Iconic
may be a long experience, but developer Larian Studios found some smart ways to make it engaging across the full course of its runtime. It's possible to play through the game in an efficient manner, skipping sidequests and random activities to focus on the main story experience, but focusing on speed doesn't feel like the most rewarding way to take on its challenges. Although the ways in which maintains interest and variety may not always be immediately obvious while playing it, stepping back to think about its design reveals just how smart it really is.
Many of the best features of are the results of long-running evolution in other titles. The game builds on Bioware's original games as well as the titles from Larian Studios, taking some of the most interesting ideas of these experiences and refining them in new ways. The influence of classic roleplaying can also be clearly felt in a campaign, and Larian Studios puts admirable effort into replicating tabletop strengths in the medium of video games.
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A Reddit post from user bionickel makes a clear case for the benefits of the way that approaches quests, arguing that it stands head and shoulders above many contemporary games. It's very common for some video game quests to essentially be filler, tasking players with fetching random items or dispatching a set number of enemies in the name of helping out an NPC. Content of this nature doesn't have to be completely extraneous, as it can lead to valuable rewards or even feature interesting surprises, but it's all too easy for it to become monotonous or dull.
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Although sidequests are plentiful in, the game never falls back on this pattern to flesh out areas or offer more activities to do. Instead, sidequests are designed as generally bespoke content, often to a bar of quality that is indistinguishable from much of the game's main story content. Main questlines also tend to remain focused, as they typically only slow down for puzzle-solving or creative workarounds to growing obstacles rather than forcing detours based on repetitive tasks. The longer a campaign runs, the more this aspect really starts to shine in an appreciable way.
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Looking at recent RPG releases proves how unique this approach is, as an increase in filler content has frequently accompanied the larger open worlds of many modern games. is chock-full of students asking the protagonist to fetch various quantities of items for them, and uses many similar requests as a basic opportunity to earn credits.