A review by nickfourtimes
Baldur's Gate II by Matt Bell

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.0

1) “In a role-playing game, you start life already a hero. Or at least a hero in the making, guaranteed only to improve. Every scenario is designed and structured with your eventual success in mind, every storyline shaped to match your character arc. Everywhere you go there are obstacles but they are all intended to be overcome. None of your failures will be permanent, and unlimited second chances are always only a reload away.”

2) ”It is sometimes difficult to determine correct pronouns when discussing an RPG like Baldur's Gate II, where Gorion's Ward—the player character—can be of variable gender, race, and occupation. Who is the character and who am I? How separate are these entities? When writing about in-game experiences, are they happening to my version of Gorion's Ward or are they happening to me, the player? What should we call the character at the heart of our story? Sometimes I will say I, and mean either the character or me. Sometimes I will say you, and mean either my character, your character, myself, yourself, or some generalized ideal player. Sometimes I will speak of Gorion's Ward in the general sense, rather than in my specific case. There is no one right answer, and all these modes have their own nuances useful for the purposes of discussing the ‘role-playing’ part of an RPG: Who are we when we begin such a game, and who do we become as the game proceeds?”

3) “Here again is the difficulty of crafting a story in games that lets you wander off the main storyline. In a more traditional narrative, the characters would never spend all this time acquiring equipment and solving minor territorial disputes before launching their rescue attempt. What good is there in delaying Imoen's rescue, in letting a friend suffer unnecessarily? Presumably none. But because this is a game and because the game world necessarily revolves only around my character, Imoen will be no worse for wear when I arrive. There is no true narrative urgency except the player's interest. Wherever I go, the world bursts to life. When I leave, the world waits for me to return. Imoen is being tortured by a man I've sworn to kill but she will not be tortured any more or less based on how quickly I arrive.”

4) “Despite my creeping misgivings during the writing of The Last Garrison—despite similar misgivings about writing this book you are reading—I now suspect that one way to end the injury I did to myself by hiding what I loved is to reveal the shame I felt publicly, to put that admission into writing and to make it public.

This book you're holding is one way for me to say, This is who I was. It is also, in almost every important way, still who I am.”