I dipped my toes into Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) when it was first released in 2023, but only played about an hour at the time before putting it down. This was partially due to my confusion about how to play the game and partially due to various distractions at the time that stole my attention away to other games.
In January, I opened it up again just for research. I wanted to understand how how Larian approaches branching dialog and gameplay choices, assuming I’d play for only and hour or two — and before I knew it, I was lost in the story and having a hard time putting it down. As of writing this, I have played around 80 hours of the game. And I still have soooo much game to go.
On my first attempt to play the game, I was a little overwhelmed by pulling up the wheel of options and didn’t quite understand that these actions could be used outside of combat, which slowed my progression a bit. But after getting some help from my brother, I was able to progress much more smoothly. I love exploring the world and seeing what can be discovered (although, I based on video clips I see from time to time, I’m pretty sure there are so many more innovative ways to approach this game). And the vast approaches to the gameplay is one of the great things about Baldur’s Gate 3.
But what I really love about this game is it’s characters, in particular the various companions that the player can befriend and have join them on quests. They are all wonderfully interesting, with unique backstories. One of my favorite activities is returning to camp and chatting with each companion to get their perspective on what’s happened. Plus, there’s opportunities for romance (though, I haven’t fully explored that aspect yet).
Anyway, I’m completely immersed in this game, I have tons of hours to go to finish it, and I’m already thinking about playing it again, so I can explore other possibilities.
Well, I’m back into Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. I open it up on my phone and attempt to progress in idle moments throughout the day, playing five or so minutes at a time. I’m still mostly stuck in the same area, but am immensely proud of myself for getting just a fraction higher — up onto the rocks (as in the screenshot above). I don’t know what it’s going to take me to get past this point, probably tons of falling and climbing back up and falling over again. At any rate, I’m back to trying.
Another game I open up on my phone regularly is “hexplant,” a free browser game created by willow, in which the player grows the plant as far as they can from the water to try to find the final (purple) hexagon. The game is randomly generated and super simple to play — and I find myself just as (if not more) interested in making pretty patterns with the tendrils of plant over actually completing the puzzle.
If you’d also like to know about the books and movies that I enjoyed recently, you can check out my Culture Consumption for January.