The big appeal with Breath of the Wild (and now Tears of the Kingdom) is that you can go anywhere and do anything. The big problem with Breath of the Wild (and now Tears of the Kingdom) is that you can go anywhere and do anything. While too many games railroad you and punish you for thinking outside of the box, the two recent Zelda games make you the master of the world, while keeping you as a small and often insignificant part of it. For a lot of people, it's genius game design. However, many others feel lost in its aimlessness, wandering from place to place with no real goal nor clear idea of what's driving them forward. The lack of limitations, supposed to ignite creativity, only causes boredom. But if you want Zelda's freedom without the directionless stupor, get ready for Baldur's Gate 3.
I understand why people fall in love with these Zelda games. It's so rare that games give you this amount of trust, and so when it lands for you, it feels like there's no other game quite like it. Because there is no other game like it. Trust is all a matter of context. For example, if you leave someone in a kitchen full of ingredients, they could make a wonderful meal that bursts with flavour. Or they could look around, unsure what to do, and make a grilled cheese sandwich. It's the same story if you leave someone to design a living room, or plant a garden, or write in a notepad. Feeling useless without direction is not a sign of a lack of creativity, but it just means the form of creativity offered by Zelda isn't right for you.
In any case, we all want games to let us do our own thing. We might be overwhelmed by Zelda's choices, but we want to impact the world with our thoughts. When playing Jedi: Survivor, I could jump up walls. But when I came to a puzzle, I discovered there was a specific type of wall I couldn't jump up, and that annoyed me - the game was punishing me for expecting it to respect my knowledge of it. When I play Zelda, I wish I had something compelling me to go wherever I need to go, but at least I never feel like the game is annoyed with me for alternative problem solving.
This is where Baldur's Gate comes in. If you love Zelda, Baldur's Gate will appeal too, of course, but I think it will be especially fitting in scratching the 'go anywhere, do anything' itch that, for some of us, Zelda just can't satisfy.
On the face of it, you might not think so. Baldur's Gate is a tactical turn-based RPG where you move characters around a grid and rely on stats, dice rolls, and percentage-based chance to execute moves that you plan in advance. You maybe wouldn't expect such methodical restrictions in a game I'm holding up as a TOTK alternative, but hear me out. First of all, the moves you can use in Baldur's Gate 3 are not as simple as 'Light Attack' and 'Charge Attack'. Versions of those exist, along with a litany of spells, but you can also just kick people off ledges.
More than that, you can use the environment to your advantage in ways other games don't consider. If an enemy is on the roof, sure, you could climb up and attack them, or use a ranged attack. That's what most games would do. But you can also attack the support pillar of the building itself so the enemy crashes to the ground. There's the way to play it regularly (plan attacks, exploit weaknesses, move tactically), and there's the 'fuck it, I'll try this' method. Few games have room for just saying 'fuck it'.
I'm not telling you Baldur's Gate 3 is as limitless as Tears of the Kingdom, but that's sort of the point. If you like Tears of the Kingdom, there's already a perfect game for you - Tears of the Kingdom. But if you don't like Tears of the Kingdom and want a more structured game that lets you push the world's limits with inventive play, Baldur's Gate 3 could be the game for you this summer.