Last summer, I played through Baldur's Gate 3 for the first time with a friend I've been playing tabletop D&D with for a while in real life. While I have some experience with tabletop systems, this was my first time playing a true video game interpretation of that format. I've always been fascinated by Tieflings, and having never played a Druid before, I really wanted to try out the Wild Shape mechanics. That is how my Tav Ramie was created, who shares her name with a Nomai in Outer Wilds, one of the researchers who discovered the negative time dilation and helped build the Ash Twin project.
Unsurprisingly, Baldur's Gate 3 quickly turned into one of my favorite games of all time. From a technical perspective, every aspect of the game is so well-implemented, and the multiplayer functionality is astonishingly robust and one of the most seamless I've experienced. From a storytelling perspective, I was amazed at how well the game was able to tie every side-quest and text back into the main happenings of the story, and how nicely it was able to wrap up while considering all the choices we made.
Playing this game with my friend, who played a golden dragonborn named Zabaarg, made the entire 200-hour journey at least twice as good. He was exactly the right person to play with because we had played tabletop RPGs together before, and have a similar completionist mindset when it comes to games. It felt like because we naturally pay attention to different things, we complemented each other and always kept a good overview of the sprawling storyline and mechanics.
I really enjoyed that the game actively respected who Ramie was right from the start. Being a Tiefling Druid wasn't just cosmetic, it changed how people interacted with me and opened up several unique options, which surprised me at first. When we confronted Kagha about her ties to the Shadow Druids, my druidic background made it easier to peacefully convince her to abandon them and fight by our side, which even earned me a special staff. It was also during this early exploration of the Rosemon Monastery that I retrieved the Blood of Lathander, a legendary glowing mace that not only looked really cool but also had some nice story implications that I therefore chose it as my main weapon for the rest of the game. Being a Druid also meant I got to have a lot of fun with the Wild Shape mechanics to solve problems in my own way. Once I unlocked the Owlbear form, I could just use its massive jump distance to completely cover the battlefield. At one point in the Rosymorn Monastery, I jumped onto a wooden platform filled with Kobolds, causing the whole thing to collapse, explode, and wipe them all out in a very funny way.
It was also during these early hours that our characters really started forming bonds with the party. Zabaarg was slowly navigating a relationship with Shadowheart, while I found myself drawn to Karlach, after a short romance with Lae'zel. Her infernal engine meant us being unable to touch, even after Dammon of the Tiefling refugees stabilized it for now. I managed to cool her infernal engine using a jar of water just enough for a brief, literal spark of a first kiss.
Please enjoy a few images from our journey through Act 1 of the game.
The transition into the Shadow-Cursed Lands in Act 2 completely shifted the tone of the adventure. Using the Spider's Lyre we obtained from Neere in the Grymforge in Act 1, we were able to summon a Drider carrying a Moonlantern that would protect us from the shadow curse plaguing the lands. I remember being desperate to get my hands on the Moonlantern, because the effect it gave off looked so cool. It took a while, since the Harpers took the lantern to the Last Light Inn and only after defending it from the traitor Marcus and their minions did Isobel trust it to us. We spent hours huddled closely together in its protective glow, navigating the cursed environment.
Getting into the Inn was another story. Jaheira was pretty distrustful of our tadpoles at first, but earning the title of Faithwarden back in the Grove appeared to tip the scales just enough for her to let us in. The Tiefling refugees, including Dammon, appeared to have made it there too. He was finally able to properly repair Karlach's engine with the infernal iron we had gathered, meaning we could safely touch without her burning me. Finally, our relationship could grow further.
Before we tackled the main threat, we spent a lot of time trying to lift the curse on the land itself. The quest around that was quite Rube Goldberg-like, with many steps, starting at saving Halsin in Act one, then waking up a sleeping patient at the Inn using a lute you had to search, Halsin opening a portal (with a tower defense sequence that ended in a blood bath) to retrieve a boy named Thaniel, finding his other half (a boy named Oliver) and getting them to merge together again. From there, they told us that all we had left to do was to infiltrate Moonrise Towers and kill Ketheric Thorm.
I actually managed to convince Ketheric Thorm of my loyalty by telling him I had assassinated the goblin leaders back in Act 1 because they failed him, which he bought completely. He sent us down into the Gauntlet of Shar to retrieve a relic, which brought us to the threshold of the Shadowfell and the prison of the Nightsong. Down there, me and my friend had a long discussion about what to do with her, something that is really cool and can only happen in a multiplayer playthrough. My friend felt that Zabaarg should let Shadowheart kill her to fulfill her Sharren destiny, and the game really makes you feel like that is what you are supposed to do. But I managed to use a "real-life persuasion check" to convince him that we should spare her life, and it was absolutely the right call. Watching her transform, spread those huge white wings, and take off to assault Moonrise Towers was one of the most epic things in the game so far.
We stormed the towers right behind her alongside Jaheira and the Harpers, clearing the first floor while only losing a single ally. The final fight against Ketheric culminated in him summoning the Avatar of Myrkul, which felt like fighting a literal god, but my Blood of Lathander mace really came in handy there. Defeating him finally lifted the Shadow Curse, and watching the life slowly return to the land as we left Act 2 was a beautiful reward that I had no longer seen possible.
On the way towards Baldur's Gate, were ambushed by Githyanki on the road and had to retreat into the Astral Prism, where we discovered that our Dream Guardian was actually an Illithid known as the Emperor. He was using the captive Prince Orpheus to protect us from the Absolute, and offered us an astral tadpole to evolve, but we refused and resisted the urge to let our minds be taken over. By the time we reached the outskirts of Baldur's Gate, looking down at the city from the Open Hand Temple, we had spent well over a hundred hours in the game, but we were just as motivated to explore as we were on day one. Visually, Wyrm's Crossing is one of my favorite places in the game. I absolutely love how the merchant bridge looks with the fortress looming behind it.
In the city, we then did everything from visiting the Counting House to delving into the House of Hope to deal with Raphael. Some of these missions were very tense, like visiting the hells where Karlach could take a breather, or taking a submersible down to Gortash's underwater Iron Throne prison. Unfortunately, we couldn't save Wyll's father because Mizora instantly killed him when we freed him. We also tackled the Steel Watch Foundry, which turned into a very messy fight where most of the Gondian gnomes died, forcing us to just blow the place up with a Runepowder bomb. Other fights were surprisingly fast, as we managed to take down Orin the Red at the Tribunal of Bhaal in just two turns.
For Gortash himself, we got a bit creative. Instead of fighting him normally, we placed the massive pile of explosive barrels we collected during the game around him, sat down in some chairs at a safe distance, and set the whole thing off with a fireball. While that bypassed the fight, the aftermath was heavy especially for Karlach, who had spent the entire game wanting to get revenge on Gortash. And yet, seeing him dead didn't fix her engine, and she suffered a completely understandable emotional breakdown there.
Nothing could have prepared me for the scale of the finale. After our final long rest, we took a boat to confront the Netherbrain, which launched an attack that destroyed the upper city. Inside the Astral Prism, we had to make our final choice: side with the Emperor or free Prince Orpheus. We chose the Githyanki Prince Orpheus, who sacrificed himself to transform into a Mind Flayer to wield the magic needed to win. We fought our way through the ruined courtyards of the Upper City, calling on all the allies we had gathered over the game, before finally climbing up the Netherbrain itself. The final fight on top of the brain against a red dragon and Mind Flayers was brutal, and the portal phase to attack the brain's core was even worse. Zabaarg and Shadowheart both died, and I barely managed to revive them in time to finish off the brain's massive health pool with just two turns left to spare.
Once the brain crashed into the water and we washed up on the docks, the excitement faded into worry. Karlach's engine began to rapidly overheat, and it became clear she was going to die right there rather than return to Avernus alone. But Wyll offered to go with her, and there was absolutely no way I was going to let her leave without me. Choosing to accompany her into the Hells really felt like the only right decision Ramie could possibly make, with them both having grown to be so close over the adventure. I can't fully explain it, but it just felt incredibly true to her character and to the bond we had built over the course of the game.
If the game had ended right there, I would have been satisfied, but the developers added a six-month later epilogue sequence that elevated the ending so much more. Being able to walk around the camp and talk to everyone one last time, seeing their new outfits and hearing about their lives influenced by our decisions, validated the entire 200-hour journey. Lae'zel was off fighting Vlaakith, Astarion had to flee the sun, and Zabaarg and Shadowheart were traveling as adventurers. Ramie and Karlach were still constantly fighting for their lives in Avernus against Zariel's forces, but we had found blueprints that might finally fix her engine for good.
As we watched the credits roll, I was emotionally touched in the best ways possible, and might have had to wipe some tears. Baldur's Gate 3 isn't a flawless game, having experienced several bugs small and large, but the things it does right are so deeply impressive that all of my doubts simply vanished. I have never played a game that managed to maintain such a consistent level of quality and personal emotional resonance for so long. Every single character mattered to me by the end, and the journey of Ramie and Karlach will stay with me for a very long time.
In fact, why don't you check out how I 3D printed and painted Ramie in real life? Thanks for reading through all of my ramblings!