My excitement for the upcoming 1.0 version of Baldur's Gate 3 has crept up on me. I've become a far more deeply committed Dungeons & Dragons player recently, but I've also been wondering what the next game that will inhale 50 hours of my life will be. I've not been too swayed by some of the recent powerhouse offerings, and while I'm sure Tears of the Kingdom and Starfield will blow people away, neither game feels like the right fit for me. For a long time I've lamented gaming's push to excessive experiences, but after months of short but satisfying adventures, I am craving the guilty empty calories of a behemoth. Baldur's Gate 3 might just be that game... if I ever leave the character creator.
I have been obsessed with character creators in the past. In Saints Row: The Third, I lost all of my money because I decided it would be funny to completely change my character with plastic surgery after every mission. I used to sit and make entire football teams of created pros in older FIFA games when created players were better integrated into the main game, building Pele, Maradona, and Cruyff well before Ultimate Team had the idea to charge us for them. I would repeatedly make characters just to see if I could, then once I'd made five or six, decide on my favourite and delete the others. I've made Taylor Swift in several different video games over the years and fun fact: that's not creepy at all. It's nice.
It's not that I'll be overwhelmed with options in Baldur's Gate 3 though. That will come on a second playthrough, whenever it rolls around. I've seen the character creator in action, so I know the depth it offers and the broad range of character types with their various perks and drawbacks. I could spend days just making new characters in the hopes that I one day play as them, but that's not what’s going to happen the first time around.
I know I will play as a female Tiefling, the coolest (metaphorically) and hottest (literally and metaphorically) race. She will be purple, the best colour for Tieflings, and likely have black hair, bright eyes, and as much jewellery as I can physically equip to her. I'm not staring at a blank canvas wondering how to sully it. I am projecting my masterpiece onto it, ensuring it is perfect. But it will take time.
I may get distracted along the way. There may be insufficient jewels to properly adorn my Tiefling, and I may become frustrated and start the process from scratch. Playing as a Human, especially the first time around, is incredibly boring, but if there's one I can make into Taylor Swift... no. I will stick with my Tiefling, as it is written, it shall be done. But it will be a bumpy road. Going in with too clear a picture of what I want can limit inspiration and creativity, but going in with nothing only means having to create various templates to compare and contrast later on.
As a DM, I get around the problem of having too many characters by just putting them in the story. In my current game, I'm playing (our group is small so the DM is a passenger who does combat with the group) as a red Tiefling and our most recent one-shot had a purple Tiefling NPC, whom the party very rudely skipped in order to help out an injured Flumph. He will be back. In the longer campaign I'm writing, there is a town of Tieflings which plays a crucial role in the story. I just like the Tieflings. Maybe I could do Tiefling Swift... no, Stacey. One thing at a time.
I am sure Baldur's Gate 3 holds many wonders, and I'm also sure that I will enjoy it more than the other big time sinks releasing either side of summer. But mostly, I'm sure that I will take far too long creating my character and then try to tweak it at every possible opportunity during the game, then become quietly annoyed if no opportunity exists.