How a Baldur's Gate 3 zone takes the pressure off the end of Act 3

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Baldur's Gate 3 is remarkable for many reasons, not the least of which is its masterful storytelling within a choice-based RPG. Baldur's Gate 3His impressive narrative had to achieve something quite difficult: it had to tell a good story over several tens of hours, taking into account the multitude of different personalities that could be interfaced with it, bending the plot and the tone through their countless decisions.



Minor spoilers for
Baldur's Gate 3
before.

But almost anyone played Baldur's Gate 3 will agree that Larian Studios has achieved what it set out to do from a narrative perspective. Of course, much of this success comes down to how meticulously the studio's writers have planned every possible combination of player choices in relation to the main campaign, but the traditional rules of storytelling are at the core BG3his emotional success. The game's story is well-paced, consistently engaging, and evokes emotions ranging from giddy laughter and surprised joy to horror and melancholy. This masterful approach to narrative structure is typified by an early section of the game's third act that is worth delving into.


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Baldur's Gate 3: The Subtle Importance of the Latter-day Circus

The circus of the last days precedes an emotional barrage in Baldur's Gate 3

Players can access The Circus of the Last Days at the start BG3his third act, immediately after entering the titular city of Baldur's Gate. As one might expect, the event is characterized by frivolity, humor and entertainment, with traders and performers lining up to soak up all the attention and currency they can. Players can get involved here with several carnival-appropriate games, including:

  • Zara the Face Painter
  • Wheel of Fortune (Akabi the Huckster)
  • Matchmaking (Zethino the Matchmaker)


Part of the reason Circus of the Last Days is so effective is that most of these activities have some kind of twist or extra layer. Whether it's Zara's surprisingly long-lasting face paint or the unsurprisingly manipulative nature of Akabi's wheel, there's a decent amount of content for players to sink their teeth into, making it a great showcase of Baldur's Gate 3his attention to detail and a beautiful calm before the storm.

The circus of the last days is underlined by the darkness of BG3's final act

On the surface, The Circus of the Last Days might appear to be a good way for the player and protagonists to let loose before digging their heels into the more serious, existential concerns of the game's final act. In a way this is true, as the circus serves as a welcome reprieve, but it is belied by a number of darker aspects that help build tension through the seemingly innocent business of the event.

This tendency toward darkness is another thing that helps drive home Baldur's Gate 3his well-crafted narrative. Twists like Orin appearing during the work of Zethino the Matchmaker, the mysterious killing of Dribbles the Clown, and the sneak attack of a doppelganger that punctuates the circus visit remind the player that all is not well in the world.


No matter what the citizens of Baldur's Gate do, and no matter how hard they try to pretend that all is well, there are great forces of evil at play, ready to pounce when their guard is down. Baldur's Gate 3 is full of dark moments and concepts, and the events of Circus of the Last Days don't even crack the top ten, but the contrast between the mundane celebration and the existential threat posed by the Death Gods and their emissaries helps set the tone for the third act, making it a deceptively heavy part of the story.

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