There's a lot of great discussion regarding the writing of our companions, but was anyone else disappointed with the writing and storytelling of the
main plot in Baldur's Gate 3?
While I generally disliked the Illithid/tadpole elements at the offset, I could at least keep them in the background and temper it all with the breadth of companion storylines and regional quests in Acts 1 and 2. Once we hit the end of Act 2, however, we get in rapid succession:
-Two utterly cringy cartoon villains arriving so late in the narrative that they almost feel tacked on.
-An unintentionally hilarious reveal of the Elder Brain plus Netherese Crown, which honestly had all the gravity of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.
-Another reveal that all of these machinations were orchestrated by three actual gods who needed these three supervillain schemers to control the Elder Brain, so that it in turn could control the public for...more Souls? Tribute? Free tacos?
-Another reveal that your Guardian is actually the Emperor, yet another Illithid who is holding long lost Githyanki royalty captive due to his ability to block the Elder Brain's mind control something something something.
-All of this superficially doled out by rapid fire wall-of-text exposition that seemed more designed to keep you from asking questions than actually receiving clarity.
Someone once said that suspension of disbelief is like an anti-gravity device; when it fails, it fails hard. I'm prepared to buy into a lot of fantastical elements and contrivances in this medium, but so much of this plot just felt
goofy... I freely admit that I could have missed something in there, but by the time I got to the city, my dislike for the main story was such that I no longer felt interested in continuing on and seeing what happens next. I'm not sure if I will ever finish out the game, but since the RPG elements in Act 1 and 2 still have things to offer, I am currently going back and trying different classes and activities just to try and understand this whole 'Baldur's Gate' thing a little better.
What did you think? Did the primary plot line work for you? Would you have done anything differently?
Cheers.
