‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ director offers advice on which character to play first

The creative director of Baldur’s Gate 3 has recommended that players create a custom character for their first playthrough and avoid stepping into the shoes of the pre-made origin characters.

On the latest episode of the Dropped Frames podcast, Larian Studios‘ Swen Vincke said that creating a custom character lets the player see the entire arc of these origin characters as an outsider looking into their psyche.

“We add these origin characters for replay value,” explained Vincke. “I would always pick a custom, and discover my companions. I think the origins come into play when you replay it.”

“That said, there’s nothing wrong with picking an origin, it’s just that the entire origin system is about where do you put the camera? In whose head do you put the camera?” he justified. The origin characters – Astarion, Gale, Karlach, Lae’zel, Shadowheart, The Dark Urge and Wyll – all possess their own histories and their own secrets to uncover over the course of the playthrough.

Moreover, Baldur’s Gate 3 has a huge 17,000 possible endings for the role-playing game, meaning that these companions will react  to the multitudes of choices that the player makes, according to their alignment.

“They work better if you’ve played the game already once because then you see it through their eyes. What was Shadowheart thinking the first time she saw you? And now you know when you’re in their head,” concluded Vincke.

Baldur’s Gate 3 offers an enormous amount of customisation for those who will be creating their own character to explore Faerûn with. That being said, developers from other studios have said players should not see the game as the “new standard” for all RPGs.

In other gaming news, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart‘s PC port comes to Steam and the Epic Games Store tomorrow, and adds a number of technical ameliorations to the game.