I’ve played many of Larian’s games over the years, but I can only say that I became a full Larianite with theOriginal Sinseries, which properly integrated co-op play into their campaigns. I played through both in their entirety in split-screen with my partner, and can legitimately say at this point that they made the pandemic bearable. I still remember how the first game let you play rock-paper-scissors with your partner (skewed towards whoever had better ‘Persuasion’) to decide whose dialogue decision won out in a given situation, whileOriginal Sin 2would go so far as to let players screw each other in their bids to become the Divine.
Naturally, I was delighted when I heard thatBaldur’s Gate 3would support split-screen play from the off, but some 50 hours into my split-screen campaign, I can see that there’s a lot of work to be done here. At this point, there are a lot of elements that don’t quiteclick, and while some can be fixed it’s clear that others are just a matter of the game’s design not being as conducive to split-screen play as Larian’s previous work.
First up, there’s the matter of sound. When one player enters dialogue, the game sensibly prioritises the sound on that player’s screen, so that neither of you are missing out on the lovely voice-acting and third-person dialogue cutscenes.
However, the sound switchover isn’t consistent; sometimes the sound of battle on one player’s screen will completely mute an important conversation the other player’s having, and, even more annoyingly, the sounds of a trading window on one half of the screen will almost always take priority over dialogue on the other, so key quest conversations or heart-to-hearts with companions will just be silent mouthing while you listen to the clickety-clacking of the other player selling their wares.
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I appreciate that the game lets a player not in dialogue go up to the player in dialogue and ‘Listen,’ which then turns that conversation full-screen, but the option shouldn’t be restricted to when the two players are standing right next to each other. This was really put into perspective where I was romancingLae’zel(or rather, she pounced on me). Giddy about one of us finally getting some action, we settled in to watched the scene unfold, but as my partner’s character was asleep, the game just left her half of the screen blank, so this significant scene only played out on my half.
Similar things happen all the time; a significant cutscene happens for one player, yet you’re able to’t full-screen it because the other player isn’t nearby, and sometimes you can’t even hear it because the other player is doing something as insignificant as trading. Obviously, there will be compromises when playing split-screen, and we accept those (we’ve learned to avoid having two important convos at once, for example, so that our attention isn’t split between them and so that we get the full VA goodness for each chat), but some of this stuff is, frankly, jank that shouldn’t be happening.
If it’s a challenge for Larian to properly prioritise which player has sound at a given time (though you’d think merchant windows wouldn’t be overruling cutscenes and quest-progressing conversations), then at least give us an option for the player with sound priority to flick the sound over to the other window with the right analog stick. Similarly, during scenes like the Lae’zel romance I highlighted earlier, and in any cutscene or dialogue really, there should be the option for the non-involved player to cede the screen to the other player so that the both of you can enjoy dialogue and cutscenes together in proper fullscreen.
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So those are the fixables. The tougher problem to solve comes with the repetition of dialogue that comes with chatting to companions in the camp.You both have your separate relationship standing with the companions, but inevitably many of the dialogue options end up overlapping, and companions never make reference to your partner’s character. It’s like they don’t exist, or like you and your partner’s companion interactions are occurring in two parallel dimensions that you both can see unfolding in front of you (it also means you can kind of cheat your way into bed with companions by seeing when your partner said things they didn’t like, then saying the opposite—thatclassicdating strategy).
Again, this could be one of those things that’s simply a trade-off that comes with playing split-screen, but I do still feel like a bit more could’ve been done for companions to respond to different players with a bit more variety, dependent on their actions throughout the game. The fact that whichever companion your partner’s in control of flat-out refuses to speak to you unless you go into the menu and switch them over to your control is also a weird contrivance that’s more of a weird technical holdover from Original Sin 2 (which hadexactlythe same issue) rather than a conscious design decision.
With all that said, it really isn’t all bad news in split-screen;simultaneous turns are an absolute godsendwhen playing co-op, and on balance it still makes for one of the most mind-blowingly deep gaming experiences you can have rubbing shoulders with a pal or partner. It’s not without its faults however, and I can see whysome are holding off buying ituntil the game’s inevitable Definitive Edition comes out. At times, split-screen rubs up against the chat-heavy style of RPG that Baldur’s Gate 3 is, and that’s a trade-off I’m prepared to make, but there’s still a fair bit of work needed to bring the split-screen experience up to the standard it needs to be.
