PSA: Don't miss out on Baldur's Gate 3's hero introductions when picking your character

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PSA: Don’t miss out on Baldur’s Gate 3’s hero introductions when picking your characterEntertaining back story alert

Entertaining back story alert

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Larian Studios

Astarion introduces himself in Baldur’s Gate 3

In the run-up toBaldur’s Gate 3leaving early access, developers Larian Studios have understandably put a lot of emphasis on the game’s custom character creation, what with it being much more firmly ingrained in the world of Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing more generally than, say, their previous Divinity games. But before you jump into creating your favourite D&D build, do take a moment to watch the Introductions for each of its fixed origin characters, too. They’re great fun, well-written and have some good jokes in them, but they also reveal some important details about your companions-to-be that you might not have gleaned otherwise. They’re also very easy to miss if you’re not careful.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Larian Studios

The character selection screen in Baldur’s Gate 3, highlighting the character introduction button

When you’re plonked into the character selection screen after the opening cutscene, I’m sure most mouse cursors will instantly gravitate toward the shadowy ‘Custom’ portrait right at the top (see above). Sure, you could pick one of the origin characters - the folks who will otherwise become your companions when playing as a custom character - but let’s face it, part of the fun of D&D is role-playing as your own creation, and given how many times we’ve had to recreate them during its three years of early access (as each major patch has required a complete restart of the campaign), I’m sure many long-timeBaldur’s Gate 3players will relish the opportunity to finally take them through the entire game.

Before you do that, though, resist the urge to barrel into the custom menu and instead spend seven-odd minutes watching the origin lot’s introductions. In the screenshot above, you’ll see there’s a little Play Introduction button below their descriptions - literally as far away from the Custom portrait as you can possibly get, it would appear - which you can only access from this particular screen.

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settingsNow that Baldur’s Gate 3 has left early access, vid bud Liam reckons it was worth the wait.Watch on YouTube

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Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Larian Studios

The Dark Urge introduces themselves to the player in Baldur’s Gate 3

Gale introduces themselves to the player in Baldur’s Gate 3

Karlach introduces themselves to the player in Baldur’s Gate 3

Lae’zel introduces themselves to the player in Baldur’s Gate 3

It’s a fun little detail, but the real reason to watch them is just to get an extra dose of Larian’s great writing. Despite their short length, these introductions manage to convey everything you need to know about what these characters' respective deals are, while also making you laugh and smile at the same time. As anyone who’s had to write magazine captions, boxouts, or indeedseveral short RPS 100 entriesfor a living can tell you, doing this much in so little time isn’t as easy as it looks, so indulge me as I doff my cap to Larian’s writing team for an excellent job well done - and particularly the Astarion, Gale and Karlach crews. A critical success roll if ever there was one.

I also say this because several other members of the RPS Treehouse missed them completely and now feel slightly sad about it. So don’t miss ‘em! I know you’re itching to get started in this enormous RPG, but trust me, they’re 100% worth the small delay.

Disclosure: Former RPS deputy editor Adam Smith (RPS in peace) now works at Larian and is the lead writer for Baldur’s Gate 3. Former contributor Emily Gera also works on it.