Some say the hardest part of Baldur's Gate 3 is the Rapahel fight, or the Iron Throne, or even the final showdown against Netherbrain. But in truth, it's letting down the companions who come to you without being troublesome. Lae'zel comes on pretty strong, while Gale tries to woo you with beautiful scenery. It's quite flattering, but you might have eyes for someone else.
Unfortunately, rejecting them means you won't have too many deep conversations with them, or plan fun hangouts, apart from their companions. It seems that Larian originally planned to address this via a separate friendship system in addition to the romance system, but it didn't quite work out.
Why can't we be friends?
Speaking to Edge magazine (via PC Gamer ), Kevin VanOrd, the writer for Lae'zel, revealed that the developers originally wanted to make the romance system a little deeper by including a friendship feature. Unfortunately, time constraints meant that it could not be implemented in the final version of the game.
“We had a lot of good ideas that never made it into the game due to lack of time. I would love to have a friendship system in addition to a romance system, where you get special events like dates,” he said. “I think it would have been really cool for characters to have romances with each other, outside of the player.”
I'm literally the only person playing Baldur's Gate 3 this way
I may be proficient in Charisma, but not in Rizz.
It honestly sounds fun. Imagine a night out with Astarion, or a board game with Gale, or even a duel with Lae'zel. Just because they aren't romantic options doesn't mean we can't hang out. Of course, that would mean a lot more dialogue and animation, and Larian would probably have needed a lot more time.
As for the romances themselves, VanOrd loves to see fan art and ships. “Something that makes me happy is seeing all the wonderful artwork – safe for work and not safe for work – that players interpret the characters with,” he concluded.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Adult: Blood and Gore, partial nudity, sexual content, strong language, violence
- Engine
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Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-platform play
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Full cross-platform play.
