Comments on: In Praise Of: Baldur’s Gate.

By: ben1

ben1 — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:53:39 +0000

Absolutely 100 per cent agree with you. I really hate the narrative tendency of recent times that the main character has to be ‘born’ to his or her path (ok technically speaking that is absolutely what happens here but what the hey) – as you say it does in fact feel like a nuts and bolts start out from scratch. The first time I played it through there were no walkthroughs and the feeling of immense satisfaction of clearing the Nashkel mine and killing Mulahey was, er, intense. It feels like proper sandbox adventuring and has never been bettered in my humble opinion.

By: Smaug

Smaug — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:47:18 +0000

Just started playing Baldur’s Gate Trilogy with Big Picture Installer “Recommended” preset, and I am loving it, I thought Arcanum was good but this is an entire another level. Just beautiful work, all of the options, reminds me of my early 2.E roleplaying days, even the first roadside bandits I meet have an interesting back story an somewhat hilarious voice acting. I only wish that I would have put it in a lower resolution than 1900×1024 as I see map borders when moving around.

By: A different Joe

A different Joe — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 03:53:37 +0000

Quest for Glory casts you as an Adventurer. And it is the greatest game series of all time. Period.

By: aosher

aosher — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:07:32 +0000

It’s not just Bioware, though – it’s a fantasy genre trope which the games industry has largely failed to challenge. (JRPGs seem better, actually – although oftentimes your character ends up as being a pivot o’ destiny, they seem to begin as a random chump in the wrong place at the wrong time more often than not.)

By: hentzau

hentzau — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:07:38 +0000

The problem is that Bioware fuckin’ loves the Chosen One trope because it means they can get away with lazy storytelling, and where these things are concerned everyone tends to follow Bioware. You can find a few indie games that still do things “traditionally” though.

By: hentzau

hentzau — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:04:08 +0000

Also PS:T plays around with the trope of the player character being super special important in an interesting and refreshing way. Since the story is about you and your fuckups rather than a world in peril that must be saved it gives much more latitude for this sort of thing.

By: aosher

aosher — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:02:33 +0000

Hent and I were talking about this. I think that PS:T is an interesting case because, although you are a unique and special scion of destiny, so is everybody else, and your quest is sufficiently personal that it still feels very local. He also suggested the first Fallout, which is spot on, although Fallout 2 does undermine that premise.

By: innokenti@gmail.com

innokenti@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:51:58 +0000

Yeah, I think Oblivion comes even closer. Yes, the Emperor rambles on about your fate right at the start… but actually your role in the grand scheme of things is as a champion to the hero. You’re very much in the shadows there…

(Then again, you are the champion who is significant in helping save most of the world/Empire so it doesn’t actually quite work…)

Yeah, need to have a better think about it.

By: Smurf

Smurf — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:12:21 +0000

The only one I can think of that even touches on that is Skyrim if you avoid the main questline and the civil war. It’s quite possible to just go around fighting bandits and clearing out dungeons for wealth without saving the world or becoming the chosen one. Still, it’s not really the best example as you have to make a choice to play it this way.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:05:54 +0000

I think the Drakensang games are the only other ones that cast you as a common adventurer with nothing remarkable or noteworthy about them. And they are all the better for it. Despite some aspects of your goal, the adventures also remain quite low-key. River of Time gets a little more dramatic, but focuses on the personal rather than exactly ‘x-saving’.

I am sure there must be other ones recently though…