Willy physics, recruiting Minthara without wholesale slaughter, a fleshed-out epilogue… there’s a lot in Baldur’s Gate 3’s newest patch, but the highlight under that mountain of fan service is the new custom difficulty mode.
Nobody expected Baldur’s Gate 3 to be as big as it is. Dedicated fans might have loved it, sure, but wider audiences flocking en masse to play it? That wasn’t on the cards. It’s a lengthy cRPG sequel to a classic series that last had a game two decades ago, built on the back of complex Dungeons & Dragons mechanics and class building. Yet I scroll on TikTok and see a wall of clips from everyone.
Editor’s Note: James is very young and gets all their news from TikTok. We try not to judge them.
Larian Studios made the cRPG genre inviting for newcomers by streamlining the level-up process and focusing on character interactions. Characters are the hook that sinks its teeth into people – literally for Astarion. Every actor went above and beyond in bringing to life their characters, and we get to see that more than ever in the incredibly detailed body language and mannerisms, the performance capture bleeding into the game meticulously.
Since so much of Baldur’s Gate 3 is driven by the relationships forged on this arduous adventure, difficulty often comes second. Sure, some people love to push their luck on Tactician, but they’re the cRPG fans who would’ve arrived at the door anyway. Newcomers to the genre can start slow and get used to the mechanics and freedom of approach while excitedly meeting everyone in the party, and now there are even more ways to make that process less intimidating.
Patch 5 added a Custom Mode difficulty that lets you fine-tune your experience. You can lower enemy aggression, up character power, reduce the strength of enemy loadouts, disable enemy critical hits, make it so Short Rests fully heal you, and so much more. Explorer was fairly easy as is, but for people new to D&D or turn-based games in general, that rang less true.
My partner isn’t much of a gamer. We play Minecraft sometimes, they used to dabble in World of Warcraft years ago, but they aren’t one to sit down for hours on end, getting stuck into massive mechanic-intensive RPGs. Then they saw me romancing Astarion.
I bought the game on PS5 (I preferred playing with a controller, anyway), and they immediately jumped onto my laptop to see what it was all about, fuelled by watching me snog the vampire and also watching the internet at large snog the vampire (thanks, TikTok). Since they had never played a cRPG before, they started on Explorer, but they still struggled. It was an uphill battle getting used to all the spells, attacks, dice rolls, movement, and gear.
Nonetheless, they persevered, reaching Act 3 and kicking ass all the way, clawing up to maxmium approval rating from the Pale Elf, who I now have pictures of scattered around my house. The drive to meet every character and unravel their stories pushed them to learn the ins and outs of cRPG combat. It’s a powerful motive.
When I showed them the new Custom Mode last night, they lit up. Being able to make it even easier hooked them all over again, so off they went to start a new playthrough. These options are a huge step forward to making a notoriously daunting genre inviting to all without stripping it bare and gutting the RPG elements.
Baldur’s Gate 3 already bridged the gap, showing that cRPGs don’t have to be left to the most fervent of gamers, but adding more options will only expand that potential. With so many newcomers falling in love with the game and, through the characters, getting to know a genre that has long been assumed too complex for wider audiences, maybe we’ll finally see a renaissance. For the time being, though, it’s just heartwarming to see so many finally give a cRPG game a try.
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