The Importance Of Bad Companions In Games Like Baldur's Gate 3

In any game with a wide array of companions to choose from, there's always a bad one. I don't mean an evil one, or a mischievous one, or a morally ambiguous and selfish one, I mean bad. Uh-oh stinky bad. Some games go overboard and give us several bad companions, but I fear these may just be bad games. However, even the great games always throw one bad helper in the mix to keep us on our toes. For 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate 3, and for me, that's Wyll.

The thing with these great games is the 'bad' companion is different for everyone. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:My wife is also playing Baldur's Gate 3, and Wyll is her favourite - her constant companion whose romance path she has begun already. Conversely, she finds Shadowheart "rude" and won't take Astarion anywhere because he, and I quote "feels a bit like Jimmy Saville". If you're British, you know that means she's staying the hell away from Astarion forever, and if you're American, don't look it up on a full stomach.

Astarion holds a knife in Baldur's Gate 3

For a while, I had convinced myself I simply wasn't taking Wyll because of his lack of utility. Like myself, Wyll is a warlock, and while the spell slot recovery on short rests makes them useful for a player-character, I don't need two of them. No harm, no foul, but Wyll just isn't the one for me. Maybe next time I'll be a different class and he'll get his moment to shine, right? Then my wife started playing, and took Wyll everywhere and I realised he was just bad.

Fun fact: A paladin who romances Shadowheart is the most popular way to play Baldur's Gate 3. If you did that, you're just as boring as Wyll! Good job!

Wyll is bad for the reason I find so many companions bad in games like this. He's good: too good. I felt the same way about Kaidan in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect, who is the archetype for these sorts of companions. They're always very nice people on the surface, often driven by some military code that holds virtue and justice above everything. Then they have conversations mostly about bread or how clear water is, reveal some deep burden, and then keep on smiling throughout it. It's supposed to be admirable. But it's dull. It presents a character who has no flaws, and when faced with their greatest challenge, they simply smile and shrug.

If Wyll were a paladin, it might just about work. I still wouldn't like him, but I'd understand - all paladins are fairly boring, after all. But being a warlock, and therefore having a pact, is the most interesting thing about him, so it stays. His backstory is compelling, like all the rest in Baldur's Gate 3 - but what makes most of them so interesting is the way the game explores each character's flaws. Wyll is largely presented without having flaws, and that robs his story of the powers it could have. Wyll would probably be the best friend of the bunch to have in real life. But it's not real life, and I'd prefer my Greek Goddess warrior lover with a metal heart of fire about to erupt with rage. That's just more interesting than 'hello, I am nice'.

Wyll, like Kaidan and the others of his ilk (168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fire Emblem's Ferdinand, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragon Age's Alistair, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy's Prompto), is a character I respect but do not like. Being likeable is, often, a very unlikable trait if it is the thing that defines you. People root for flawed characters, they see themselves resonated in the struggles of others, they relate to heroes who fall short. Mr. Perfect just doesn't do it for me.

The beauty of these games is they need these bad characters. One, because having a character you can leave behind often solidifies your love for your favourites, rather than having everyone be 'just okay', and second, because they're not the same for everyone. There's a lot of love for Wyll out there, and my wife's thoughts on Astarion and Shadowheart don't stop them from being so popular elsewhere. A lot of people struggle with Lae'zel at first, but she has been in my A-Team since the beginning. Conversely, Gale has grown from an outsider to one of my go-to names. It doesn't matter who your bad companion is. For me, it's Wyll. But as long as you have one (and only one), you know you're in for a great game.