Baldur's Gate
A cold mug of tea and uneaten biscuits are a testament to an immersive interactive experience with player agency, Larian Studios’ award-winning Baldur’s Gate 3 is such a game!
The fantasy genre captured my nascent imagination when a neighbour friend gifted me a copy of The Hobbit. From there, I consumed Fighting Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), played text-based adventures on 8-bit home computers, watched Knightmare and collected Citadel Miniatures: I still have a boxed set of Chaos Marauders.
During the spring and summer school holidays, my dad would take me on a forest trail (lost to time) as I underwent years of rehabilitation in the wake of a life-changing childhood trauma. As he carried me part of the way on his back, I imagined I was Frodo with Strider on a quest to destroy the one ring to rule them all.
Fast forward to 2024. Over the weekend, I downloaded Baldur’s Gate 3 for Xbox Series S (I prefer the controller) and embarked on an epic adventure that encapsulates everything I love about tragic tales of found family.
My character, a female Barbarian called L’Ara Wynter (in homage to Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft and Mass Effect’s Liara T'Soni), survived an abduction by mind flayers that have stepped out of a Lovecraftian nightmare and befriended a band of dysfunctional misfits on the road less travelled in shades of Tolkien.
I’m barely a few hours into a Forgotten Realms story that potentially spans hundreds of hours and discover what lies in the shadows…