Larian boss suggests ignoring Baldur's Gate 3 companions in multiplayer
"Your connection to these characters is going to be much shallower."
Larian boss Swen Vincke has suggested Baldur's Gate 3 players ignore the game's companions when playing multiplayer.
The hit RPG is playable in four-player co-op, which fills out the party and leaves no room for companions like Lae'zel, Astarion, and Gale and means players could miss out on their unique stories.
Vincke, however, has suggested not interacting with companions and saving them instead for solo play.
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"Personally, and this will be different for different people, I would keep them for a singleplayer playthrough or a co-op playthrough with just two players, where you take some companions with you," Vincke told PC Gamer. "A large part of the storytelling of these characters is when they're with you in the world."
Elaborating, Vincke explained that conversations with companions stuck in camp are based on a "hearsay" conversation system, whereby they react to what players tell them but won't know what happened as they weren't in the party.
It means players will miss out on relationships with those companions, as well as unique interactions with NPCs.
"Your connection to these characters is going to be much shallower than if you had them with you," said Vincke. "I would probably advise if you're playing in multiplayer, focus on your party - as you do in singleplayer, actually, just focus on your party and enjoy it and roleplay it to the full extent. You can have any number of companions in camp, but it's not going to be the same thing. It's going to be much stronger if you're doing it in singleplayer."
Of course, the flipside of multiplayer is playing the game with real-life friends, which will make for a wholly unique experience - just like a proper D&D campaign.
Just ensure that your multiplayer party is on the same wavelength when experiencing the story.
"There's typical types of groups that play multiplayer. If you have the type that will explain to each other and wait for each other, they'll get a really good sense of the story," said Vincke. "If they go off in all four directions on the map and start shenanigans and don't tell anything to anybody, then it becomes hard."
Baldur's Gate 3 has already proved incredibly popular over on Steam since its release last week.
Larian is also working to ensure the localisation team is properly credited in the game.