Baldur’s Gate 3 Has Caused Quite the Hubbub – Cold Take

It was a July like any other. Xalavier, a writer for Hypnospace Outlaw, El Paso Elsewhere, and the upcoming South Park game, said Baldur’s Gate 3 is an amazing accomplishment of human engineering, but they wanted to preemptively realign people’s expectations of RPGs moving forward. They were trying to explain that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a virtually impossible standard to achieve. It had been in the oven since 2017, Larian Studios had plenty of practice making two games before this one, there was a 3 year Early Access period, over 400 developers all over the world were involved, and of course it had major brand recognition by using the Dungeons and Dragons license. Michael Jordan’s best game should be celebrated, but not used against the other players or himself as a comparative norm. Not even Larian Studios themselves are trying this again. They’ve already made comment that their next game will be smaller in scale, because you can’t have the Avenger’s suiting up for every movie. It’s not feasible. And that was kind of taken out of context, or a different conversation was started up on top of it, to mean Tony Stark hates us. Developers don’t want to try to make good games anymore. Developers are afraid of Baldur’s Gate 3’s success because that means they have to work harder now. If you don’t think Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new standard then you’re okay with overpriced ports, microtransactions, and buggy day one releases.

I understand both sides. Everyone is frustrated because we want that game. I want that game that makes it feel like Christmas again. I want that game that makes it feel like I’m witnessing history in the making. I know what it’s like to go through a lull. You want that something that reignites the passion and the vigor that makes you commit to this hobby over all other hobbies. You could’ve been collecting stamps, but instead you’re getting mad over internet opinions because it can feel at times as if you’re watching your favorite means of escapism get kicked and abused by the very people who swore to keep your best interests in mind… especially in these most recent years that’s seen us go through a pandemic into a recession. The big games get more expensive and less complete for this reason or that. Yet they brag about record breaking profits while your studios go under and you get nickel and dimed. For some, it hasn’t felt like Christmas in a long time. Yet here’s a game that defies industry standards, from the substance to the price of admission. Of course you want more, and hearing someone tell you not to expect more can bring out the ugly.

There’s too many factors working against Baldur’s Gate 3 for many studios to keep as their guiding star. As stated before, the cost of development is the first major turn off. There are dozens of Vampire Survivor clones being released as we speak because its development is incredibly fast and cheap relative to what it stands to make. BG3 is not a cherry bomb in the toilet, it’s the Manhattan Project – I am become debt, destroyer of credit scores. The genre doesn’t do it any favors either. A classical roleplaying game that lives on its mechanics, branching narratives, and emergent gameplay aspects eats up development time and money more than just about any other genre, otherwise you’d see more free-to-play CRPGs popping up than battle royales. What I will concede is that this could be a trendsetter years from now once most of the workload can be lightened by advancements in technology. I understand Larian Studios is the giant whose shoulders we could stand on, but you still have to climb the giant.

That’s not to let Johnny Triple-A slither away without learning a reasonable lesson or two. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a complete game, with no microtransactions, being sold for $60. It was developed without outside influence because the studio didn’t want their vision skewed by money owed to publishers or stockholders. Larian Studios isn’t even beholden to Wizards of the Coast because they paid for the Dungeons and Dragons license out of pocket. Leave developers alone. It’s wild to think that the people who made game development their life’s work know more about developing a video game than executives and algorithms. Hell, I think it would be even worse if Triple-A did try to copy BG3. At best, you’d end up with games featuring the most comical features pushed too far out of context. Every dialogue option should lead to fornication. Let’s buy more licenses because Gollum’s failure was a fluke. The people want genitalia customization. And at worst, you could get publishers trying to force a clone with less people, more crunch, and more microtransactions…and it wouldn’t even be good. Let’s be honest. There is no game worth the inhumane treatment of another human being, and especially NOT the games we’ve been getting lately.

I believe every Triple-A game asking for $60 or $70 should be in working condition on release date without any essential microtransactions. Personally, I don’t care if a game lets you swipe a credit card for a skin that doesn’t impact gameplay whatsoever. I know some people are into that. That’s my minimum standard, and if we want to have that conversation then let’s have that conversation.  What’s more concerning is the game industry has gotten into a state where we’ve stopped recognizing the monolithic outliers for what they are, because we are so fed up with all the nonsense. I can’t think of any bigger sign of respect for a game than other developers coming out to say what Larian Studios did is impressive and near impossible, yet somehow that’s turned into calling those developers lazy and scared. So which is it? Baldur’s Gate 3 can not be legendary and common. Let it have some time to taste the sun and the glory before it’s relegated to being the bare minimum. And let’s have those conversations. What is the minimum standard for a video game? What are the minimum expectations? What have we been getting? Why are we so upset? Let’s talk it out. You want amazing games. I want amazing games. They can’t all be amazing. That’s the fact of the matter. And that’s not through lack of trying. The developers don’t hate you. Sometimes everything just lines up and you deliver the game of the century. But a lot of the big games could stand to be better than what we’re getting. I get it. No one is defending buggy releases and microtransactions, and it does feel like something has to give.

In a sense I feel I’ve already talked about this topic at length through my other Cold Takes. This is what happens when good isn’t good enough and greatness feels obligated. I’ve talked about the many failings of business executives, data-driven design, and how the ire of gamers has been turned into a farcical blame game. If anything, we, the people who enjoy gaming, need to get better at talking to one another about our frustrations and our expectations and redirect that energy towards the people that matter instead of exploding on ourselves. I am anticipating a lot of people saying “you must be new here.” I did just come off my freshman year into games media. Maybe I am naive. As much as it is tempting to write-off all the discourse as rage-baiting algorithm driven drivel, I think people are angry, repressed, and they have a lot to get off their chest, but at the end of the day these are all opinions after all. Far be it from me to deny someone an asinine opinion on the internet. Where else are we supposed to put ‘em?