Summary

  • Baldur's Gate 3 is a game famed for robust player choice and reactivity.
  • Players are sorely missing certain character interactions, however.
  • The relationship between the Dark Urge and their companions is a particular pain point for players.

From video games to tabletops, reactivity is a feature that every role-playing enthusiast looks for in their games. We want to feel like our decisions and backgrounds affect the narrative and the characters; we don't want to feel like passengers in someone else's story. Baldur's Gate 3 is a prime example of a game with high levels of reactivity; there's almost an immersive sim element in the number of ways you can progress the story, and characters react to thousands of different choices you can make throughout the story.

However, there's always room for more reactivity and more character interactions. I've been vocal in the past about how I think fans should allow Larian Studios to move on from Baldur's Gate 3. However, it's still interesting to see which missing interactions the community is most invested in.

The Dark Urge and Their Oblivious Party

A Reddit thread by Ieriz posed this very question to the community: Which character interactions would you most like to see added to the game by Larian? I had my own thoughts on this question and was heartened to see the same points raised by Caaros in the comments. The reactivity of companions to the actions of the Dark Urge isn't fantastic and requires some suspension of disbelief. Wyll, Karlach, Gale, Jaheira, and, to a lesser extent, Shadowheart are all moral characters that are surprisingly permissive of the depraved cruelty of a non-resistant Dark Urge. There's obviously a great unifier in the illithid tadpoles keeping this group together, but these characters don't even dissuade the player from treading an evil path.

Caaros mentions three specific interactions that could be added concerning the Dark Urge: "Companion reaction to Omeluum's diagnosis of you having severe brain damage, especially after the Alfira incident; romanced companions reactions to Kressa describing how she f**ked with you; and in the moment romanced companion reacting to your character dying in brutal fashion when you defy Bhaal."

Others in the comments mention how Act 2 is full of explicit information that the Dark Urge has previously been to Moonrise Towers, but no characters ever address it despite multiple non-player characters saying they've interacted with the Dark Urge before the latter lost their memory.

The top comment by Winterlord7 says Tara should be able to join the campsite in Act 3 after the quest Find the Missing Letters. Tara remains at the campsite if you choose Gale as an origin character, but not if he's just a companion.

FireDragon737 suggests a more robust interaction between Minthara and Orin, where the former can confront her tormentor for catharsis: "I want Orin to be able to call out Minthara and taunt her if she's in the party, the same way Gortash calls out Karlach at the coronation. I want Minthara to stomp on Orin's skull as she's dissolving into a puddle of blood so she knows for sure that Orin is dead... I want Orin to acknowledge Minthara in any capacity because she never really does in-game."

Interestingly, one commenter claims to be a stress tester for Patch 8 and bemoans the lack of dialogue related to the unreleased Hexblade subclass: "There's an awful lot of Shadowfell talk in Act 2 and extremely little Hexblade comments."

With two unannounced projects in development, it's unlikely that Larian is going to come back and add more interactions following the release of Patch 8. However, the studio has said in the past that development is finished only to turn around and add more content, so who knows when the true end is coming?

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Baldur's Gate 3

RPG Systems 5.0/5 25 9.4/10 Released August 3, 2023 ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) Larian Studios Publisher(s) Larian Studios
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