Fallout Dev: Baldur's Gate 3 Among Best RPGs of 21st Century

Tim Cain remains very active on his YouTube channel, sharing observations and tidbits about classic RPG games. However, in the last video, the co-creator of the original Fallout presented five masterclass RPGs from modern times.

Cain said these games are "the best to learn from" for people interested in making RPGs. Let's note that the creator considers all games released in the 21st century as "modern."

It's also not a list of "five best RPGs" of the last two decades, as the example of World of Warcraft shows.

1. Cain admitted that WoW was neither the first nor even the best MMO, but Blizzard's work showed that simplified gameplay can be more fun. As he put it, while many previous MMORPGs â?? e.g. EverQuest â?? were "all sticks without a carrot" in terms of difficulty, World of Warcraft is basically "all carrots".
2. Somewhat on the opposite side stands the second production mentioned by this creator. Elden Ring proved that "more difficult can be more fun." Cain also appreciated the typical discreet narration for FromSoftware games (requiring occasional "digging") and the mechanics and visualization of the status effects system (for example, poisoning).
3. The "mastery" of the next two games was summarized more briefly. Fallout: New Vegas showed how to move the old series into a "new era" and create an RPG that responds to the player's actions, while Skyrim stands out with its design and exploration of the virtual world.

However, the creator probably devoted the most time to the latest production he mentioned.Cain appreciated Baldur's Gate III very much because the game from Larian showed that the people, who claimed that classic RPGs, or even PC gaming in general, were a thing of the past.

The American also referred to the once popular opinions that the third Baldurâ??s Gate should be seen as an exception, rather "a rule" setting a new standard in the RPG genre. Cain absolutely disagrees with this, as well as with other opinions stating that the Dungeons & Dragons system is "too difficult" or "too niche" for modern audiences.

The creator also praised, among others, a rich character-creation system and great "reactivity" of BG III to players' decisions.

Finally, Cain will mention three titles that didn't make the top five, but are still worth the developers' attention: Vampire: The Masquerade â?? Bloodlines (for its atmospheric narrative), Half-Life 2 (even though it's an FPS, but "it has a plot, characters, puzzles" and is really a lot of fun) and Vampire Survivors (again: it's not an RPG, but a game that shows the power of small, independent studios).

Baldur's Gate 3

August 3, 2023

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• Larian Studios
• RPG games
• Baldur's Gate (franchise)
• Tim Cain