Just Finished Baldur's Gate 3
What a ride. Intertwined quests, cruel gods and rock and roll devils, brain worms, nude vampires, a questionable romance with a flying tentacle alien monster, and exploding everything with freaking barrels - what a chaotic recipe for a 33-hour playtime.
Saved the world, kind of. But honestly?
The best part was the friends I made along the way.
Party of Weirdos
I didn’t expect to get this attached.
At first, it was all about the mechanics. The game was my introduction to the actual Dungeons & Dragons board game. I had already seen the movie, but it didn’t feature or mention any 20-sided dice or the fact that I could spend all of Chapter 1 just pushing goblins off ledges. I spent way too much time thinking about builds and how my party would synergize, only to throw it all out when I realized I liked certain characters more than I expected.
- Karlach was a surprise favorite. I actually thought she's a villain with her horns and red skin. Kinda like a female hellboy. Turns out she's an adorable cinnamon roll I'd do anything to protect. I also liked her ending the best.
- Astarion Annoying at first, smug and really shady, but somehow grew on me. Like, “You’re a terrible person… but you're my terrible person.” I played the hero path the whole game, but on the rare moments I chose to be bad, Astarion never failed to let me know he approved. Every. Single. Time.
- Shadowheart got under my skin in a different way (if you know what I mean). It was pretty obvious right from the start that the devs want you to make her as your main squeeze. I didn’t even flirt with her yet and suddenly we were watching the stars together. As the story progressed though, everyone just throws themselves at you. And unfortunately by the time Mizora seduces you, you're already commited to Shart.
- Wyll just kept showing up — the dependable one. Reminding me there’s still some good left in the world, even with a devil’s contract breathing down his neck. I really enjoyed using his Eldritch's blast.
- Gale was that guy who talks like he's read every book in Faerûn. Which he probably has. He’s a walking lore dump, but he means well (spammed spacebar everytime he talked). I made him wore the dress I got from the mermaids near the robot factory. It partially exposes his legs but the stats were insane!
- Lae'zel is pure intensity. The kind of companion you’re not sure respects you or wants to rip your throat out. She taught me about strength, pride, and how to weaponize contempt. Loved her for that. After she got the 3rd bonus attack, the squad became Laezel and her moral support friends.
- Halsin joined a bit later. I did not, even once, used him since my Tav is already a druid. He's got the gentle giant vibes, druid dad energy, the only one in camp who felt remotely grounded. Probably the most emotionally stable of us all (Low bar).
- Minthara okay, I didn’t really get to know her much. Maybe because I killed her before she was able to massacre a whole village of tieflings.
- Jaheira and Minsc I wasn't planning to play them since just like Halsin, they are druids, but the quests forced me to. Love them both though, they were a nice addition to the chaos.
I Save-Scummed. Sorry.
I save scummed. A lot.
Like, all the time.
And I know that’s not the “real” DnD experience. You’re supposed to embrace the chaos. Let the dice decide. Suffer the consequences. Laugh when everything goes wrong. But this was my first real DnD game.
And I was scared of messing things up. Not just the big plot points, the little moments too. A failed roll could mean missing a tender scene, locking out a questline, or saying the wrong thing to someone you care about.
So yeah.
- F5 before every conversation
- F8 after every regret
- Repeat
If that makes me a coward... then fine. I’ll own it.
Save-scum for life.
Maybe next run I’ll play it clean.
(Probably not. I deleted it already.)
What Stuck With Me
It wasn’t the boss fights. It wasn’t the ending. It wasn’t even the big plot twists.
It was the quiet moments.
- The awkward camp conversations
- The random teasing while journeying Faerûn
- The weird party dynamics that felt more real than they had any right to
Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t just let you play a story, it lets you live inside one. And when it ends, it feels like saying goodbye to old friends.
Final Thoughts
I started BG3 expecting high fantasy nonsense, the usual epic battles, the gods, the betrayal arcs, all of that.
And yeah, I got that.
But what stayed with me?
The friends I made along the way.
Even if I had to reload a few times to keep them.