Baldur’s Gate 3 has been one of the most popular games in recent memory. The popularity has not died down since the release, but one thing was missing for console players – mods. With the latest patch 7 update, mods officially became a part of the game for all players.
As a console player myself, I was excited for the prospect of new races, tattoos, faces, hair, and many more mods to become available. When the mods were pushed back from Sept. 7 to an October release date, many console players were upset yet understanding. On Oct. 1, the mods were finally released to everyone’s surprise.
Since I started playing the game with mods, there are many new features that allow for more customization, and more classes to allow for a more authentic feel to the Dungeons & Dragons counterpart. One such mod that I am currently using is the Mystic class and Witch class, which add more spells and different damage types that could only be accessed by becoming an illithid and using their powers.
One other such mod I have used is the cheaters ring, which allows the player to gain armor, weapons, and spells that are normally unavailable till the end of the game. This also now allows players to add wings onto the tav (player character) allowing for flight at any point of time.
So how does this affect the quality of life of an already long-lasting game? Having mods on consoles now allows for new players to be more interested in getting the game, as there’s now more content to dive into an already stacked game. It also gives appeal to old players that may have put down the game because they did not have as much customization as the PC players. The mods are then also being supported by the company; this allows for modders to be officially a part of the community which not many console game developers have supported. This inherently supports creators and has them coming back to the game adding more mods.
Gaming on PC has allowed for third-party mods to come through and be easily added into the game. Yet for console players, it is harder—although typically impossible—to get mods onto the games. Yet by adding official mods, Larian has inherently allowed for players to have better control of their campaign without needing a PC.
Another big thing for console players that mods can add to Baldur’s Gate 3 is being able to have a larger party. This changes the way multiplayer games can be played. I have personally used this mod to be able to romance the Origin characters while being able to play with a party of 3. The mod also allows for me to be able to go off and do a mission and not need my friends to join me in combat because I am able to add more characters into my party.
Despite the praise, though, the mod system is not entirely perfect. In order to even play with both friends and mods, the entire team has to have all of the same mods enabled. The issue though – not being able to see the mods enabled for the game while inside the game/campaign. This can take away a good chunk of play time and becomes very tedious when one person is just one mod off from being able to join.
Other than that one issue, which can be fixed easily, the mods system adds a massive quality of life update to Baldur’s Gate 3, and brings console players closer to a PC-like customization experience. Not only did Patch 7 come out with mod support, but Larian Studios added new evil endings for the origin characters as well as the player characters. This last big update truly shows how Larian loves and supports all of their users, enough even to level the historic console and PC experience divide.
