Every gamer I know is furiously working their way through Baldur’s Gate 3 right now, and for good reason. The game has been getting praise for its flexibility, the depth of its choice and consequence system, how it’s embraced different playstyles, and even its approach to nudity. Larian has pulled off creating an unthinkably complex game, but one thing that sticks with me more than anything else is the greatness of its acting performances.
The performances of its characters are part of what makes this game so easy to get sucked into. Every character is fully voiced and motion captured, which means you’re relying on more than just rolls and dialogue to decide whether you trust a character. Body language actually feeds into the way you judge them, which is extraordinarily rare for a game of this scope. One early example of this is in the mission you embark on to find Karlach. A paladin tells you she’s a demon and to find her and kill her, and you can either agree or tell him to buzz off. I didn’t trust this guy because he seemed a bit shifty, but I wanted to find Karlach, so I went on my merry way. The very moment I actually found Karlach, I trusted her with my life. She seemed so open and honest that I couldn’t help but want to help her, and also be her best friend for the rest of our lives. She led me back to the paladin to kick his ass, and my suspicions were right – the guy was weird.
It’s the same with every companion, and every character. Baldur’s Gate 3’s IMDB page lists hundreds of actors, many of which have poured years into their characters. My colleague Jade King interviewed Jennifer English and Devora Wilde who played Shadowheart and Lae’zel, and they talked about how much the characters have evolved over the years, whether that be through their own growing understanding of the characters or in reaction to early access feedback. They understand the depths and nuances of their characters in a way many actors don’t get the opportunity to – as English says, “As the characters have developed and changed so much throughout the game, so have we. Our imaginations are bigger, our craft is better and that’s been a real honour. How often can you play the same character over four years?”
In a tweet, actor Dave Jones who played Halsin in the game, talked about the sheer number of voice actors in Baldur’s Gate 3 and said, “Two things about this: Firstly, the human voice is a supreme storytelling device. Second, and mainly, you can shove AI up your arse x”. We’ve been seeing an increasing trend of people using AI in game development, and corporations adding features to make it easier, despite the huge number of ethical issues that come along with the practice. Unity announced Unity Sentis in June, showing how it could allow you to “create, animate, and interact with AI-driven characters”. Voice actors have spoken up about how their voices are being unethically appropriated by fans, and how studios are already trying to amass motion capture and performances from actors so they can use them without paying actors more. Artificial intelligence cannot put this level of nuance and skill into a performance, nor can it commit to the long process of developing a character over the years. Yet studios will sure as hell try to replace actors with AI in order to cut costs – why pay human beings to give great performances when you could just steal their existing voice and motion captures for your own purposes?
Baldur’s Gate 3 would not be the game it is without its compelling, varied characters, and those characters would not exist without the actors who put in conscious work developing them, understanding them, and shaping them. You simply could not have created a game as good as this with shortcuts, and that’s something studios need to understand. Craft has a place in every aspect of games, especially the ones that are essential in getting your players to care about the game they’re playing. This game is a prime example of that. I can only hope other studios sit up and pay attention.