Bg3 Hot Take Edition

[u/Feeling-Classroom729]

I'm feeling spicy and I want to hear some of your hot takes about the game. Perhaps, I'll see the game from a fresh perspective and/or learn something new.

There's no limit to the hot takes you can share.

I'll go first.

Despite Araj's negative reputation, I think she's one of the best merchants in the game. In act 2, she carries the risky ring and the ring of free action, which is already amazing. But she also offers unique elixirs in act 2. In act 3, she sells sanguine explosives, which is basically a level 4 fireball that you can buy for less than 20 gold. Getting the unstable blood condition from her in act 3, can also be powerful if you build around it. The +2 to strength is super powerful if you're willing to torture Astarion, but even without that, she's still an amazing npc. She's a little pushy with Astarion, but she ultimately accepts his no. So, I don't stay mad at her.

I don't think completing a "good run" automatically makes your character good aligned. Basing your decisions around not making your favorite npcs sad is not a sound moral compass. I think there are more morally neutral people out there than people are willing to admit. It isn't a bad thing to be morally neutral. Jaheira is canonically true neutral in the older games, and people love her.

[u/GrassSloth]

I hate Wulbren because he’s a caricature of a political radical.

“The systems that exist are inherently corrupt and oppressive and must be uprooted and replaced.”

Sounds reasonable to me.

“That’s why we must kill every single dirty Gondian like the cockroaches they are!”

Jesus Christ Wulbren…

Idk who made that decision or how conscious this was, but it functions as anti-revolutionary/anti-radical propaganda. Similar to Killmonger and honestly most comic book villains.

[u/QuQuarQan → u/GrassSloth]

His grudge against the Gondians is personal and nit entirely unfounded. They banned him from the city for the actions of his forebears, which he had nothing to do with. This forced him to live in an unprotected village which led to his capture and enslavement. He’s not a good guy, but his hatred of the Gondians has at least some legitimacy. And it’s not like the Gondians actually seem to want to live. I’m sure you’ve done their quests…

[u/GalleonStar → u/GrassSloth]

I don't agree on Killmonger. The point of his character was that he was using that rhetoric dishonestly just to seize power.

[u/GrassSloth → u/GalleonStar]

That’s the point though. In capitalist funded media you rarely—if ever—see someone use that rhetoric and earnestly fight for the wellbeing of all people. They always take a random hard-right turn to genocide, slavery, and/or mass exploitation for the benefit of their own wealth and power—aka the history of what capitalists have done with power through the ages and a reflection of the fundamental ideals of capitalism.

I assume it’s purposeful propaganda pushed by the corporate producers or just a lack of imagination from the writers who grew up surrounded by capitalist ideals. Either way, it’s a lame and overdone trope.