Larian Studios set the bar high with Baldur’s Gate 3 in every possible way. The game, which swept awards in 2023, received a lot of critical acclaim. One of the biggest factors that set the game apart from the rest of the games out there is its approach and philosophy.
An ex-Bethesda designer recently spilled the beans on Bethesda’s ideology behind making games and the difference in design philosophy between games like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
What makes Bethesda games superior?
In an interview with MinnMax, ex-Bethesda designer Bruce Nesmith, who was the lead designer behind Skyrim, revealed that Bethesda games are built differently compared to others. The choices and consequences are often limited in scope. The side quests are almost always played in isolation from the main quest. This allows them to be experienced by as many players as possible.
Similarly, Bethesda games circle around the awe and wonder of exploring the vast open world, and the developer has over the years done a wonderful job maintaining that through their games. Nesmith said,
“At Bethesda, the games we were making were so big we had to take the approach of, well, everybody’s got to be able to do this at some point. We can’t lock off content that way. And you can see it in our games — we don’t. You can get to be the heads of all the guilds, you can be friends with all the companions, you can go to all the places. Nothing is off-limits.”
He further explained Bethesda’s approach,
“We were also in the business of making games that people would play for hundreds of hours. If you cut out 50% of your game, they’re not gonna play for hundreds of hours. Now they’ve only got 50 hours they can play because you cut off half of it.”
Thus, Bethesda allows players more freedom and exploration options as compared to Baldur’s Gate 3.
Baldur’s Gate 3 locks off content
On the other hand, Bruce Nesmith said Baldur’s Gate 3 is limited in that sense. The game is often seen closing off sections of the game when players make certain choices.
He said,
“But when you play Baldur’s Gate 3 you get the impression, rightly so, that this decision I’m about to make will close off parts of the game and open up others. It’s meaningful. That means something. That’s a big deal. You have to acknowledge that — I’m just going to pull numbers out of my ass here — any one player is only going to see 50% of the game. That’s it. And furthermore, the work that I do as an individual developer may only be seen by 5% of the people out there. That’s a little disheartening. Hey bro, what parts do you work on? Oh this thing over here that hardly anybody ever gets to.”
Nesmith also acknowledged the differences and applauded Larian’s bravery in terms of locking off content. He said,
“The thing that at Bethesda we could never get ourselves to do, is that they [Larian] poked into all the darkest corners. They’ve come out and said, quite bluntly, ‘we don’t care if only 1% of the players will ever see this. Those 1% that do are gonna be happy, and they will tell the other 99%, who will then be happy that the option existed.'”
Nonetheless, Nesmith further said that he thinks that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a triumph in trying to make the tabletop experience actually happen on the computer. He further credited the developer studio and their team.
