Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's gate 3 is an RPG based on the Baldur's Gate series dropping you straight into the world of Faerun at the Sword Coast. You create a character or you can play as one of the origin characters. The rules are based on D&D 5e, but there have been some small modifications made that increase the gameplay by a lot. In fact, some DMs now make those rules into home rules for their tabletop games. You play through the story, learn about the world, the characters, and get into high stakes combat scenarios. You can be creative as to how you solve problems, and there are many unique choices based on what kind of character you are playing.

Favorite mechanic: combat

The combat is one of the defining features of Baldur's Gate 3. It is turn based which means you have to think about how you can position your party or ready certain actions to gain an advantage over the enemies, however you cant be too rigid since theres a factor of unbreliability in each fight. I like the many different ways you can interact in combat and then chain those together to hit really hard. I also like the enemy AI responding just like I would in order to save their allies.

Story moment:

Character: Shadowheart

Ok, listen. I paid Shadowheart no mind in my very first game, but when I quit for a while because I couldn't find Halsin, and then I came back, I rescued her, she got really snarky with me, and then I was very intrigued. I just had to know more about her. She is a disciple of Shar with the mindset that she is going to become a dark justiciar and this is how she has trained all of her life...or so she believes. Because her memories were wiped. You can help her rediscover who she is, but that's not the most influential thing about her story. You have to let her choose her destiny. She can choose to regain her memories, rescue her parents, work on forging her identity beyond the gods, and go to live a life of happiness and peace. Of course, she can always choose to stick to her goal of becoming a dark justiciar and then she will become the most brutal mother superior Shar could ever want. I think that ending is tragic considering what she has to sacrifice in the name of ambition and just how little she receives in return.

Emergent gameplay moment: The enemy AI outmsarted me and I got scared

As I was fighting some githyanki warriors that were hutning us in the shadow cursed lands, I figured I would pull my typical move and cast moonbeam onto one of the enemies. Moonbeam is a concenrtration spell that creates a 5ish foot radius of bright and burning moonlight that damages enemies when it hits them, if they start their turn inside of it, or if they move through it. It's a great spell for choke points because they have to take damage to cross, but it also helps me whittle down those from afar. You can use an action to move it and it lasts for 10 rounds or until you lose or stop concentration. I was shocked to see that an enemy used an eldritch blast with repulsion on their ally, which damaged them, and then also MOVED them outside of my moonbeam which meant I couldn't damage them with it anymore. I have never been so scared in my life than in that moment.

Gallery:

Shadowheart

Shadowheart Story Moment

Frozen Ground is Difficult Terrain