If You Really Liked Baldur's Gate 3, There's One Obvious Game You Should Play Next (2024)

Finishing my first playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 left me feeling empty. For months, it had been my number-one favorite pastime. Adventuring in the Forgotten Realms alongside my real-life friends and fictional companions was the thing I looked forward to doing every day after work. But as much as I knew I'd miss it, I was reluctant to start a second playthrough - at least not right away. I opted to wait for a BG3 patch with better modding support, and a decent Steam sale (my first run was on PS5).

So I kicked around for a while, trying to avoid delving into another huge CRPG for fear it'd pale in comparison. With the space I'd freed up on my hard drive, I reinstalled Cyberpunk. I finished Mad Men. I tried my hand at crochet. Eventually, I felt ready to try fantasy CRPGs again. As I searched my Steam library, I realized the perfect Baldur's Gate 3 follow-up had been staring me right in the face the entire time. I just hadn't been ready to accept it. After just the first few hours of Divinity: Original Sin 2, I was hooked, just like the yarn of the crochet projects I abandoned to play it. And I'm here to tell you why, if you liked Baldur's Gate 3, you will be, too.

How Divinity Filled The BG3-Sized Hole In My Heart

Larian's Previous Game Has Shades Of Baldur's Gate 3

The first thing to strike me about Divinity: Original Sin 2 was how similar it was to Baldur's Gate 3. I mean, it only makes sense: Divinity was BG3 developer Larian's previous bread and butter. DOS 2 was directed by the same person as BG3 (Swen Vincke), has music by the same composer (Borislav Slavov), and runs on the same game engine (an updated version of the Divinity Engine). But even just to look at it, there were obvious similarities. Gazing down at an isometric view of Fort Joy, character portraits on the left, a string of spells and actions on the bottom - if you squint, you could almost convince yourself you were back in the Goblin Camp.

And as the early chapters developed, I began to recognize that great hallmark of Baldur's Gate 3's storytelling: player choice. The game opens on a ship (not a Nautiloid, but the seaworthy Merryweather), which is attacked by a kraken. The protagonist is saved by a mysterious entity (not a Dream Visitor, but The God), who tells them of their special (not Illithid) powers and terrible destiny. Act One opens on the prison of Fort Joy, whose inmates are planning an escape attempt. There are multiple means of escape, ranging from the stealthy and clever to the cruel and violent. This gave me the same feeling of agency, of having a real impact on a fictional world, as BG3 once did.

Meanwhile, the protagonist is tasked with gathering the party members who follow them for the rest of the game. You can easily draw direct parallels between them and your favorite BG3 companions: the Red Prince calls Lae'zel's imperial haughtiness to mind, Fane evokes Gale's nerdiness, and Ifan recalls Wyll's dashing heroics. Don't think they're carbon copies, though. They fill similar archetypes, but each one is unique in their own way. There are even a few wholly original characters, too. Lohse is the bard companion Baldur's Gate 3 never had. Sebille provides a bloody take on the classic tale of revenge. And Beast mixes Wyll's renown with Karlach's heart of gold. They'd never replace my beloved BG3 party, but most of them have since joined my personal pantheon of favorite RPG party members.

From there, though, the story goes off in some pretty original directions. I won't spoil it for you, in case you do decide to get into Divinity: Original Sin 2 after Baldur's Gate 3, but just know that the plot is different enough to surprise you all the way through.

DOS 2 Does Some Things Better Than Baldur's Gate 3

Divinity Innovates On Combat & Lore

You may be worried that Divinity won't be up to the expectations set by BG3, since it's an older game with a lower budget. While Baldur's Gate 3 does have it beat in many categories, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is innovative and interesting in ways BG3 could never hope to match.

For one thing, there's the combat. , for better or worse. It changes a few details, but still has to remain familiar to players who came to it from the tabletop game. Divinity uses an original battle system - still turn-based, still with a focus on the environment - but wholly different. It took me a little bit of getting used to, especially when it came to understanding DOS 2's Action Point economy and physical versus magical armor systems.

But honestly, I liked that. With each new discovery, I felt the same excitement I had the first time I accidentally hit an oil patch with a fire bolt in BG3. Soon enough, I came to prefer Divinity's take on combat. Each character has more actions per turn, which gives you a lot more freedom, but also makes enemies tougher.

I also found it much more interesting to delve into the lore of Divinity. Maybe that's a consequence of my years spent playing tabletop DnD: I knew all its secrets, which meant I could sometimes see incoming twists from a mile away. But even then, Forgotten Realms lore has always struck me as a little bland. It's built to be as generic a setting as possible, to accommodate whatever fantasy stories a DM can dream up, so it doesn't make any strong commitments to originality.

Divinity, by contrast, offers a totally distinct setting, built from the ground up to tell only the kinds of stories Larian wants to. Its influences are clear, but in many ways, it's unlike any other fantasy world I've ever read about before.

BG3 Made Me Appreciate Divinity: Original Sin 2 More

And Vice Versa

But admittedly, this wasn't my first brush with Divinity. I had tried it once before, many years ago, closer to its 2014 launch. I don't remember much of the experience: I created my character carelessly, a spell-slinging version of Marge Simpson, and played through the entirety of Act One. But when I got to the point where you're required to pick your permanent party members, and I froze. Wait, I'm stuck with one party for the rest of the game? I remember thinking, What if I choose the wrong characters? I eventually stopped playing, and never picked it up again, until nearly a decade later.

Obviously, my taste in and approach towards video games has changed immensely since then. The second time around, I played with a lore-friendly character, and picked my party decisively - but not without doing a lot of research beforehand. That said, I credit Baldur's Gate 3 with giving me the confidence to try Divinity again. It convinced me that there was deep gameplay and an engaging story on the other side of my hang-ups about it. And, it helped me understand that in a Larian game, there are no bad decisions - although you always get the consequences you deserve.

At the same time, DOS 2 made me appreciate certain aspects of BG3I had previously taken for granted. I got used to my permanent party, even got good with them, but I always wished I could swap them out and try the other companions. And at times, I missed the familiarity of Forgotten Realms lore and 5e rules. Even so, it didn't ruin the experience. By observing those differences, I came to love the unique aspects of Divinity just the same.

And that's the story of how another Larian game didn't replace BG3, didn't surpass it, but came to scratch the same itch for me. If you're getting towards the end of Act Three, and wondering what you're going to do after you beat the final boss, then wonder no longer - Divinity: Original Sin 2 has got you covered. It's similar enough that you'll find lots to love, but different enough that it'll surprise you. As I near the end of my second playthrough of BG3 with a completely different group (I never made it to the mod support patch), we're already starting to think about our next adventure. And I'm already strongly recommending we start a co-op run of Divinity after we finish Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3

Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur's Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , Stadia , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Genre(s)

RPG

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

30 Hours

Metascore

96

Split Screen Orientation

Vertical Only

Number of Players

1-4

PS Plus Availability

N/A

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 Players