I was running through an early area ofBaldur’s Gate 3, a locked crypt filled with bandits and the undead. Not being familiar with the game just yet, I trudged forward best I could, mostly failing combat encounters and having to try different paths. Somehow I would end up in different rooms and find different doors, and I could pick the locks open should I need to.
But at one door I happened to come across, I saw there was an option to examine it. Once I did, I realized the door had weaknesses and a health bar. ‘Surely I can’t just…’ I half-thought, before switching to Gale, shooting a fireball, and taking a big chunk out of its health bar.
I was ecstatic!
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I remember in my tweens I played a free online Flash game called Archknight. Alas, the game is all but eradicated from the internet these days (couldn’t even find a video), but at one point in Archknight, the main character Ash Dragonblade comes across a locked door and the text reads"The door is locked and you’ll have to find, oh never mind, you just kick the door down."
Still a good joke today, but this joke also permanently warped how I view locked doors in games. I swear that whenever the door’s made of wood, my first reaction is to try and break it. Yet itneverworks: use fire magic on one ofSkyrim’swooden doors or chuck a fire bottle at one inRed Dead Redemption 2; the burn marks are only there for show, you did nothing.
In a tabletop session, I’m always the jackass who goes"Can I roll to just break the door down?", as the Dungeon Master sighs in exasperation. Can I be blamed though? It makes a lot of sense, and all these years on from Archknight, Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally here to validate my logic.
Doors have specific weaknesses, possibly shared as a whole. Fire has been a common one, but so have slashing weapons and acid damage. Heavy doors are a bit more of a challenge, but hey, I recently discovered I can carry oil barrels around in my pockets, and no joke, this is why I will make sure to always have them.
If you’re thinking I’ll regret this playstyle, that I’m missing out onthe game’s solid stealth experience, or that I’m wasting valuable barrels, don’t you worry about me. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 capture the spirit of tabletop, the idea that the player’s imagination should run rampant and everything just sorts itself out as it goes. Also, I can justsave-scum, I’m not above that.
Look, I’m sure the keys to those doors are hidden in very fun and exciting places, but I’m not going to look for them. Sometimes, raw animal instinct is all I want to rely on, and there’s nothing quite as delightfully primitive as smashing my way through a door.
NEXT:I Hope Baldur’s Gate 3 Heralds A New Era Of D&D-Licensed Games
