Baldur's Gate 3 is a phenomenon. After almost three years of community-driven in-progress development, the RPG burst from the confines of Early Access in August of this year, and has dominated the conversation ever since. With so much to offer in the way of branching narratives, whimsical characters, D&D-inspired mechanics, and much more, players far and wide have hailed the scope with which developer Larian has told its Sword Coast-set saga.
The notion of playing and replaying games – be that via New Game Plus, or simply by starting again from scratch – is nothing new in 2023. But I'd suggest that exploring any given video game beyond a first playthrough has always felt optional, even in games where multiple playthroughs are such a big part of community discourse. I'm a big Soulsborne and Elden Ring fan, for example, but while I've always re-specced my characters in NG+ eventually, I've personally always done so after taking a break, playing other things, and then returning with renewed vigor as if approaching an entirely new game.
