My Baldur's Gate 3 Experience | Part 1
Walk with me as I start my journey into the wild world of Baldur's Gate
Hours in as of writing: 17h
Difficulty: Standard
Playing on: Steam Deck at the beginning. PC later on.
As I mentioned before, I’ve recently started playing Baldur’s Gate III, and I decided to make a series of sorts to keep track of what I’ve been doing and how I’ve been enjoying the game.
I’m intending to make this a very casual, very chill series where I’ll be writing about my train of thought with bullet points. I chose to use bullet points because this isn't really meant to be a structured article, but rather a log of my impressions of the game.
I won’t be writing everything I do. Just some stuff that made impressions on me.
Naturally, this post will be full of spoilers.
As soon as I opened the game, I was greeted by a kickass cutscene, and then immediately got the ick — really, anything involving eye-horror is enough to make me squirm, just like the worm that was inserted into my character’s eye. Eugh. What a way to leave an impression, though.
Thanks, I hate it Then I was thrown into the character creation screen, and I spent nearly an hour creating my character. I’m not exaggerating. I tried to read the tooltips for every class, subclass, race, what they do, what skills they have. Most of it was very confusing, but I didn’t realize how time went by.
I ended up creating the cutest character with pink hair and eyes with heterochromia (because why not), who would probably belong in a peaceful and cozy farming game, not the goblin-ridden world of Baldur’s Gate. I love her even more because of that, she looks so silly in this world. I named her Lila.
I chose to be a wood half-elf, hence the farming game comment. And I chose Bard as my class. I was going to go with Cleric, as I always choose the healer with my co-op squad, but I had heard that playing with the Bard or the Druid was fun, so I decided to give it a go. So far, I’m very happy with my decision.
I love her. In my mind, all she wanted to do was sing songs in taverns and be the equivalent of a pop star. Instead, she got a bug in her brain. After the character creation screen, another cutscene kicked in, and I immediately heard a Wilhelm Scream1, and I lost it SO bad that I almost couldn’t focus on the rest of the cutscene. I was laughing so hard, it was so unexpected, but very welcome.
Then the actual game started — mind you, I was about 1.5 hours in at this point. I was given information after information, and the small screen of the Steam Deck was making it feel very cramped. I felt as disoriented as my character. I found navigating the menus difficult. I switched to the computer after a while.
I met Lae’zel on the ship, and then we rescued Shadowheart together. I was surprised to see Shadowheart so early in the game. I know that fans seem to love her. The way her rescue was presented made me think that it was optional? I wonder what would happen if I didn’t rescue her. Would she just never become a part of my party? Or would we still form a party, but she would be distrustful of me? Very interesting.
Shadowheart has the same voice actor as Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I was fully expecting to find it hard to get used to her voice here, but Jennifer English is such a great VA that I had no issues getting used to it.
When we got on the land, I felt very directionless, but I think that’s by design. It’s taking me a long time to find my footing, even as I write this.
As I encountered the grove, I got thrown into a battle and almost got my ass kicked. Thankfully, I managed to come out on top, but I’m a bit upset that my first proper fight was not a breeze.
I'm so happy that I went with Bard and got the Speak with Animals skill, because I was delighted to speak to the oxen2 in the grove. What a fun surprise! Speaking to all the animals is the most delightful thing, and I intend to do it every chance I get.
I then recruited Wyll into my party, and together we went on some schenanigans, settling disputes and stuff between the Druids and the Tieflings.
I encountered some bugs along the way. One bug in particular was very funny: I tried to smash open a door in the grove (the one where the paralyzed Tiefling was in), the game immediately cut to inside, as if I was already speaking with the Tiefling. The interaction ended with me trying to cure her, but instead of showing me curing her, I was standing outside again, with the door having less HP. Then I attacked the door again, and then I was speaking to the Tiefling again. The same thing happened a few times, and when I finally managed to actually break down the door, the Tiefling was very angry with me (her approval was like, at -55 😂) and she was already standing up. I don’t know what kind of bug it was, but I assume that the door is not meant to be kicked in, so I need to find another way to get in.
Then I encountered Astarion, realizing that I had missed him by a SMIDGE. If only I had explored JUST a bit further without going into the grove, I would have gotten him, and maybe my first battle would have been easier. Oh well, the flock grows.
I also recruited Lae’zel, then did a long rest. At the camp, Astarion started relentlessly flirting with me, and I remembered why people call this game a dating simulator in the coat of an RPG. I don’t know who I will go for later on, but Astarion is already stealing my heart, I must admit.
I wandered around aimlessly until I found Gale. The first thing I did with him was to summon a cat. Because you know, priorities.
Shortly after getting Gale in my party, he started keeling over and got sick? Then he asked me to give him a magical item so that he could consume it?? I was very confused and at first kindly refused to give him my precious items. Then I wanted to see where it would go, so I gave him the locket that gave me the ability to cast Dancing Lights. I’m not sure if I’ll regret it later (as I also told Gale).
Found a selunite chest, and died to it like 5 times. The game makes no indication of what to do. I had to look up the solution. Thankfully, people had already told me to save scum, so it saved me multiple times, but it was still a frustrating time.
Came across a group of people who believed in the Absolute. Totally convinced them that I was their Chosen One — or whatever they called it — on first try. Okay, on second try. But I handled it with grace!
Then I ventured into a chapel guarded by bandits. Totally convinced them that they needed to run away. On the first try this time!
Then, using my bard skills, I convinced another bandit that I was his friend, and entered the chapel and promptly killed him. Patting myself on the back for being such a good bard.
As I was exploring a cellar, I opened a coffin and a skeleton awakened. It promptly went on to wake the other skeletons, and I thoroughly got my ass kicked. After using everything in my arsenal, I finally managed to beat the skeletons. Bony jerks.
I went to do a long rest after the fight and got woken up by… Astarion trying to suck my blood??? He’s a freaking vampire apparently, though I had a suspicion when I found a boar in the woods with all its blood drained, and Astarion was acting jumpy. He pleaded to have a taste, and I actually thought that he was being sincere, so I reluctantly let him. It was… uh, an interesting scene, to say the least. What is up with my companions being so freaky? First, Gale absorbs my relic, then Astarion wants to eat me. Shadowheart is hiding something, and La’zael is always angry. Wyll is the only normal one so far, though I’m suspicious that it will change soon. Anyway, Astarion was very happy the next morning (which is like a double entendre, I guess??), and I was very bloodless. Really, this is a status effect. They really think of everything in this game. I used Shadowheart’s Lesser Restoration to get rid of it.
I encountered some ogres, and I convinced them to fight for me, and they promised to lend me their help. Again, my top-notch bard skills came in handy. I keep either deceiving or persuading people, it’s great!
My character is not impressed I went down a well, then AGAIN got my ass thoroughly kicked by some phase spiders and some other things I don’t remember the name of.
Finally deciding to play smart, I reloaded and used the ‘hide’ command, and what do you know, it’s actually very useful! I was able to get the jump on the monsters, and it looks like Astarion is a beast when it comes to surprise attacks. I got through the area with ease after that.
Lastly, I’ve been fighting the Phase Spider Matriarch, and I rage quitted 3 times during the fight. The first one was hopeless from the start. I had no plans, no strategy; only willpower and determination, which proved to be insufficient. My second try went much better, because I had planned everything, used the area to my advantage. And killed the Matriarch! But the little ones… they became the death of me, literally. They attacked so fast and I apparently rolled all the Saving Throws very badly, and my entire party was wiped out… I was pissed. The third try was also a failure, at which point I just quit and took a little break.
Overall thoughts
And that’s basically it for now! I admittedly didn’t play too much of the main quest yet. I keep getting distracted by a shiny new side quest, which is probably the result of my ADHD coming through. I haven’t been able to play as much as I’d like, which is why I’m not progressing too much for now.
Please do note that I have done so much more than what I wrote here, but I just wanted to share the funny bits, because I’m having a blast with this playthrough. I forgot to take more screenshots at the earlier stages of the playthrough, and I’m going to amend that in my next post.
Hope you had fun reading this! I definitely really enjoyed writing it. Let me know if this bullet-point format works for you.
In case you don’t know, a Wilhelm scream is a sound effect that is used in movies, games, and other media. It’s kind of like an Easter egg amongst movie makers.
Apparently, the plural form of ox is oxen. English can be wild sometimes
I really enjoyed reading this, despite having no idea what happens in the game. "Bony jerks" was the highlight 😂
I just started my first play through as well!!