One thing that I’ve noticed about Baldur’s Gate 3 is that sometimes it really does feel like your companions are being piloted by other players. Sure, there’s the standard approval system that most CRPGs have nowadays, but there is an even more powerful mechanic at play here: giving the player the option to shut the fuck up.
There are tons of moments when your companions are forced to confront parts of their past they can’t shake. You always have the option to speak up for them if you like, but most times you also have the option to say nothing (sometimes the prompt is literally “say nothing,” sometimes it’s “let [character] handle this.”
And this is such an important tactic of playing at the table: turning the spotlight onto to another player and letting them handle it. Because the story isn’t just about your player character, it’s about all of you.
When you do choose that option, I’ve noticed more often than not that the character approves of you letting them take the wheel. When you try to speak up for them, they may not express disapproval, but it comes up in the fiction. I tried to defend Astarion once and an NPC was like, “You’re letting swine speak for you now?” and Astarion shouted, “I don’t need anyone to speak for me!” He’s right! This is his moment! Why did I say anything?
Baldur’s Gate doesn’t have to do this! There’s no actual person piloting your companions. And in games a lot of people will say it’s usually best practice to keep the spotlight on the players. But BG3 is a video game based on a tabletop game, and I think this is one of the main differences between the two. Maybe it’s a tiny detail, but giving the player the option to relinquish the spotlight (and oftentimes encouraging and rewarding it) is such an incredible detail, and faithful to the medium the game is trying to emulate.
It’s also a great lesson for everyone who wants to be a good player at the table: if it’s not your scene, consider shutting up and letting the spotlit player handle it.
These two pictures (Astarion’s face) are from the same dialogue but two slightly different routes.
In both pictures you can tell him “I deeply care about you”, to which he answers “Really?”.
In the first picture his face is waiting, open and hopeful, and in the previous dialogue choices you simply listened to him talk about his lack of bodily autonomy, and agreed with him by selecting:
There is a brief dialogue where you agree that he is more than an object to be used and his face is open, hopeful when he asks “really?”
The second picture instead only happens if you choose the “sex” option in the dialogue:
If you express your hope that he would throw himself at you for respecting his boundaries he adds that he is not sure he should. You can still get the good “ending” for this conversation by asking him “if you don’t want people to see you in terms of sex, then how?”
To this you can reply “I care deeply about you” like in the other route but this time Astarion is distrustful. His “really” has a completely different meaning (from his expression) :
He is definitely closed up and distrustful, waiting for your answer.
And this is not by chance, I tried it three times and these two expressions were like this in the two routes all the times!
as nice as companion approval is, bg3 is the first game where it sometimes feels good to get disapproval notifs. i feel like a momma cat dragging her sopping wet kitties around by the neck whenever i ignore their pleas to stop doing the hero thing. im driving up to mcdonalds while my companions cheer, ordering a single black coffee and leaving. oh you dont wanna help people astarion? did i ask? are you in charge? *shoves him* is your bitch ass in charge?
i need more ketheric thorm appreciation and this isn’t just me going ‘hear me out’ about the old man i mean genuinely don’t we all here, on tumblr dot com, appreciate a story of someone becoming delusional as a result of grief. going to the most extreme lengths they can because of loss.
he’s angry at selune and he’s angry at the world and he’s angry at himself, and he’s convinced himself that his allegiance with myrkul is the Only option and that his wife, were she still alive and in his position, would do the same even though she absolutely would not. but he Needs to convince himself that she would. that he’s doing the right thing in burning down the world to bring back his daughter.
Ok but… we all think Gale is a little neurodivergent right? I’m not making stuff up? I don’t want to be problematic or anything but them infodumps speak to me on a very personal and spiritual level
