When I started my second Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough, I made Barbie as a joke. A fever dream of muscle and Malibu. What if I made a character who looked like she stepped off the shelf of a Dreamhouse but fought like she belonged in a cage match? Blonde, radiant, and wielding a massive greataxe.

What started as a gimmick quickly spiraled into the most fun I’ve had in the game.

Brute Force And Pink Lip Gloss

Barbarians in Baldur’s Gate 3 are simple. They hit things hard. They get mad. Then they hit things harder. Compared to my first playthrough, where I juggled spell slots, positioning, and dialogue checks, Barbie’s brute force felt like a vacation. Combat became a breeze. I didn’t need to think about spell order. I just ran straight at the nearest enemy and watched them evaporate in a blur of carnage.

And hilariously, the roleplaying clicked.

Barbie’s dialogue choices, those gruff, aggressive Barbarian options, became comedy gold. There was something perfect about this powerhouse with pink lip gloss smashing through tense negotiations with absolutely zero finesse. Watching NPCs try to reason with her only to get met with blonde-fueled rage was its own reward.

But what truly sold me on Barbie the Barbarian was how she recontextualized the story. Knowing the narrative beats already gave me the freedom to play fast and loose. No longer worried about making the “right” choice, I could just go with the most Barbie Barbarian choice. Saving Shadowheart on the Nautiloid, for example, wasn’t some calculated decision. I didn’t puzzle-solve the pod open with an Eldritch Rune; I forced it open with raw muscle like it was made of cardboard.

And yes, my Guardian is Ken.

Where my first playthrough was careful and moral, Barbie was impulsive and chaotic. She broke doors instead of picking locks, shouted down squirrels, and romanced with reckless abandon. And it all felt right because she was a character with a point of view, no matter how ridiculous.

There’s something special about a second playthrough where you fully commit to the bit. You know how things unfold, so the pressure lifts, and what’s left is a playground. That’s what Baldur’s Gate 3 does so well. It rewards creativity and the courage to roleplay your weird little heart out.

Life In Plastic, It’s Fantastic

Now, I can’t go back. Every other build - Rogue, Warlock, Cleric - feels like work. They require thinking. Planning. Restraint. And the thought of being stuck in combat calculating probabilities makes me think: Barbie wouldn’t stand for this. Barbie would throw a Goblin off a cliff and call it a day.

Barbie the Barbarian further opened the game for me, not by min-maxing, but by leaning fully into fantasy. She taught me that sometimes, the most fun build isn’t the most efficient one, but the one that makes you laugh as you swing your axe.

She’s not perfect. But she is everything.

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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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