Baldur’s Gate 3is one of my favorite games. But for my wife, it is heronlygame.
She started playingLarian’s modern RPG classic when thePS5version launched in September 2023. Since then, she’s put in somewhere between 200 and 300 hours. She’s only played through it once however, making sure she did basically every quest before arriving at the Elder Brain.
Upon rolling credits, she moved on, trying out a few of the games that anyone attempting to relive their Baldur’s Gate 3 high has seen onlists of games you should play if you liked Baldur’s Gate 3. But no matter how hard she tried, gems likePillars of Eternity 2,Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Wildermyth couldn’t replace BG3. So, she broadened her horizons, putting a dozen hours intoRed Dead Redemption 2, before life lassoed her away. She created some characters inThe Sims 4, but predictably stalled out when she got to the part where she actually needed to, well, play The Sims 4.
Especially tricky with a PS5 controller instead of a mouse-and-keyboard.
For a while, I tried to find her other games that would scratch the same itch as Baldur’s Gate 3. Now, though, I’ve realized that only Baldur’s Gate 3 scratches the same itch as Baldur’s Gate 3.
Can You Be A Gamer If You Only Play One Game?
If you’re reading an article onTheGamer.com, it’s probably because you’re something of a TheGamer yourself. You keep up with new releases, have a backlog of older games you eventually want to get to, and used to treat E3 like a holiday (one thatSummer Game Festcan’t quite replace despite Keighley’s best efforts). You probably play several video games a year, listen to gaming podcasts, watch gaming YouTubers, and could reasonably put together a top ten list of your favorite new releases at the end of the year. That’s the kind of gamer I am, too, so I get it.
But most people who play video games aren’t that kind of gamer any more than everyone who sawJurassic World Rebirthin theaters this weekend has a bounteous collection of Criterion Blu-rays. There is an overlap between the medium and the hobbyists who dedicate themselves to it, obviously. But the health of any artistic medium depends on the non-hobbyists engaging, too.
Here’s what I mean. My wife’s grandmother has put thousands of hours into a video game. She plays every day. She has devoted more time to this game than I have devoted to any game in my life, and I do this for a living. But, the game isCandy Crush, so most people wouldn’t consider her a gamer — herself included.
Wait… Do Most Gamers Only Play One Game?
Even among ‘serious’ gamers, being dedicated to a single game is pretty normal. I’m a single-player fan, so I’m always on the move, rolling credits on one game then starting another. But plenty of players pick a game — whether it’sLeague of LegendsorWords with FriendsorOverwatchorWordle— and play it religiously. If you playFortnitewith all your friends, sticking with Fortnite long-term requires much less effort than getting everybody to hop over and tryConcord. Which they definitely won’t by the way. If you want to get good at competitiveApex, it doesn’t do you much good to stop for months to play throughAssassin’s Creed Shadows.
In some ways, these monogamous gamers are the most serious players of all. Remember ‘Let Me Solo Her?’, the player with a pot on his head who showed up in people’s Elden Ring games and killed Malenia without breaking a sweat? Or thatstreamer who beat all three Dark Souls games, Sekiro, Elden Ring, Demon’s Souls, and Bloodborne without getting hit? Or the one whobeat Breath of the Wild blindfolded?
Even if you take difficulty out of the equation, the most dedicated players are the ones who put in the time to learn the ins and outs of their favorite games. I know multiple people who have played through theMass Effecttrilogy dozens of times. If you really love video games, dedicating yourself to going deep on one instead of having shallow experiences with many is a beautiful thing.
While I still want to find another game that will click for my wife like Baldur’s Gate 3 did, it would be just fine if she sticks with this one forever. Baldur’s Gate 3 is huge, complex, and offers thousands of interesting choices. I probably won’t ever see all it has to offer, but my wife might, and that’s kinda special.
