- In the movie "the incredibles" the bad guy said "If everyone is super, then no one is." when he talked about selling stuff that gives super powers. That's right. BG3 tries so hard to throw special stuff at you that it does not feel very special.
This is a very interesting quote to bring up, in the context of BG3, because it describes a fundamental difference in Bioware's narrative design vs. Larian's.
The original BG's narrative leaned super heavily into the "Chosen One" trope. It's clearly set-up to be a power-fantasy where Player Character is the "most special"- beyond just being a Bhaalspawn. I mean, the series literally ends with a Highlander "There Can Only Be One" scenario where you wreck all the other Bhaalspawns to prove that you are #1. It's the go-to set-up for most epic-fantasy stories, and there are good reasons why it's very popular - it's incredible fun and satisfying. However, it's also the antithesis of Dungeons and Dragons - where it's a team game, and no one party member should be more special than the others (unless you want to be "that guy").
In many ways, the original BGs were an epic fantasy story simply using the D&D ruleset to support it. Baldur's Gate 3 has clearly design its narrative to more so reflect actual D&D games. You are basically just another adventurer, in a world full of magic. The world is every bit as extraordinary and special as you are - if anything, you're the fish out of water. All the companions have their own background, agency, and goals, but the DM/narrative finds some common ground reason to get the party to travel together. No one in the party is specifically more special or the "chosen one". Struggling to trust one another and RPing through group issues is given much more importance - you see it quite a bit with all the popular D&D Shows (i.e. Critical Role).
BG3 is a single player game that tries to give you a D&D table-top experience. The BG3 kind of set-up obviously works much better in actual D&D. However, I can see it being a bit more jarring in a single player CRPG. It's one thing to enjoy the spotlight with your friends. It's another doing it in a SP videogame with characters you may actively dislike. If done poorly, it can feel like you're dealing with a writer's bad self-insert fanfic. I don't think BG3 has crossed that line yet, but I do feel the potential for it to happen.
I can also understand why some people will think that making BG3 feel like a table-top game is a fundamental betrayal of the original BG (hence the "call it BG: anything but BG3" argument). Personally, I'm fine with it, but I do get the criticism. Sorry, I kinda went off topic there. Just thought it was interesting.
