Baldur's Gate 3's companions set a high standard for The Elder Scrolls 6

Baldur's Gate 3 is still regularly cited as the pinnacle of the CRPG genre, with much credit due to its characters. In fact, much like BioWare and the Black Isle Studios RPG that inspired it, Baldur's Gate 3 places great emphasis on its cast, and its writing in general, which has helped it achieve the prestige it enjoys today.

It also makes for some unfavorable comparisons in the RPG space. Baldur's Gate 3somehow, roleplaying did what Halo did with first person shooters, what Breath of the Wild did for open-world gaming: it set a new gold standard. For better or worse, this means that almost every Western RPG, especially those rooted in traditional fantasy ideas, will be measured against BG3. Again, this is about Baldur's Gate 3s exceptional character writing, as other strengths such as quest or battle design are easier for other studios to emulate and adapt. Character writing is BG3s secret sauce, if you want, and whenever The Elder Scrolls 6 rolling around, it would do you good to get your own bottle.

Baldur's Gate 3 drew a line in the sand with its companions

While I don't want to minimize Baldur's Gate 3s other strengths – it certainly has a lot to do – it's hard to overstate how crucial its companions were in its success. Then most BG3 players choose to create their own character, Larian likely knew how crucial it was to create a well-defined and compelling cast, as these characters would effectively be the emotional core of the story. In many ways, they are the stars more than the custom player character.

To properly explain why Baldur's Gate 3s companions are so well written would take many more pages and hours than I have available, but their quality can be roughly encapsulated in the term “defined.” Each character has clear, unassailable goals, values, delusions, dreams, fears, and so on, and none of these traits are ever compromised for the sake of the player or the game experience. Ironically, this kind of confidence, this willingness to contradict or challenge the player, is what makes any gaming experience worthwhile.

Take Lae'zel, the fearless Githyanki warrior with an almost psychopathic outlook on life: the only thing that matters to her is victory, she values ​​strength above all else, and she has little or no qualms about killing in general. Her views on death and violence are laissez-faire, bordering on amoral, which is decidedly unusual for a member of a heroic fantasy squad. She also won't be swayed much by the player's own ethical arguments or decisions: she's firm and extreme in her thinking, and that makes her interesting. The same can be said for the game's other party members, who all have their own unique obsessions, neuroses, and flaws.

Baldur's Gate 3's companions are unforgettable in more ways than one

It is important to point out that companions i Baldur's Gate 3 are far from mere narrative set-up or useful tools in battle. As previously mentioned, they are essential to do Baldur's Gate 3 what it is, and it involves gameplay as much as storytelling. Because the player can control BG3s side characters independent of each other, their unique quirks regularly taking on new, powerful dimensions through interactivity.

I am often reminded of one of BG3s Act 2 bosses (no spoilers) that I was sure I'd missed – everyone was talking about him, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the encounter. Then it dawned on me that I had actually hit the bad guy, but I happened to be controlling the fit and imposing Karlach at the time, which meant I had the necessary stats to drink him out instead of fighting him traditionally. This is just one example of the kind of thing that happens regularly during one Baldur's Gate 3 playback. The unpredictability of Baldur's Gate 3The characters foster unpredictability and spontaneity in the game.

Taking all this back The Elder Scrolls 6it's clear Bethesda has some work to do if it wants Larian-level companions. I can't stop thinking about it Starfielda game that, for all its innovation and cool ideas related to friendly NPCs, fell flat as a party-oriented RPG. It was outshone by previous Bethesda RPGs in this regard, which is unfortunate, then Starfields companions are clearly meant to play a bigger role this time around, with so many unmissable in the player character's adventuring company and all.

Comparative Starfields companion to Baldur's Gate 3s helps to further highlight some shortcomings. For example, while BG3s companions are often ethically complex, diverse and ambiguous, practically the whole core Starfield companions fill the role of morally upright space adventurers, who never really agree with each other or the player on anything other than extreme topics, like whether it's okay to kill innocent people. In this way, they act as ethical guardrails for the player, keeping them on the straight and narrow rather than providing unique, fully fleshed out stories or insights into lore.

And as for the game, Starfields friendly NPCs are mostly ineffective, although this is something they have in common with their Fall-out and Elder scrolls cousins. In these games, friendly NPCs are really just there to act as automated combat assistants and pack mules that you can occasionally marry. Bethesda's approach to companions is generally frictionless, which makes the game smoother, but shuts players off from many of the delightful surprises in games that Baldur's Gate 3.

This does not mean that The Elder Scrolls 6 should just monkey BG3s approach to companions, however. It wouldn't really make sense for the next one Elder scrolls to show playable allies, for example. But in the wake of Baldur's Gate 3the pedestrian, inoffensive, and understated design philosophy of Bethesda's companions appear increasingly glaringly flawed, and the studio should be aware that moving into The Elder Scrolls 6.

Released

August 3, 2023

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence