It's 11 months late, but I finished Baldur's Gate 3. Now I understand why so many in the AAA space were nervous about this game. Why they were saying "Don't expect this from us". And yes, the amount of things you can do, the flexibility with which you can do them, and pure scope of decision making is unmatched in any game prior, or perhaps for some time in the future. But that's not really the part that I'm most impressed about. The part that AAA devs actually can replicate if they want, as long as they have the creativity.

It's the quest design.

I was completely floored how despite the number of quests, absolutely none of them felt superfluous, tedious, or pace killing. Every single thing I did felt like a completely natural extension of our main adventure, and most tied into either the main quest, other quests, or character arcs.

The biggest thing is of course how the game does not consider completing quests as contributing to a '100%' completion. There is no 100%. There is no indication quests are available or how many there are in total. The game doesn't give you a running total. Many are mutually exclusive. Not doing a quest can result in a narrative consequence you may prefer. In short, the game does not care which quests you do, or how many you do. There is no ultimate reward for finishing them all. You can't finish them all. The same quest can have a different ending or consequence depending on your choice, which can effect other quests. Going through a second time, there are a ton of new ones I found, either because I just missed them or because I made different choices leading to them being available. And yet, the game never indicated I had 'missed' anything. There are no quest markers telling you someone can give you a quest. Most aren't even given to you at all; you just discover something in the world. Many involve no combat and rely on the role playing systems instead. There's no 'collect x number of these identical objects spread throughout the world'. Every one feels unique. They exist for you to find and complete if you want, not as a checklist.

Compare this to FF7 Rebirth, or really any other game for that matter. The number of available sidequests in a region are listed, and green indicators tell you where to go to get them. They can kill the pace and are tied to trophies, and rewards for completing them all. There is repetition of finding identical objects, or activating identical machines or landmarks. They are a checklist rather than enrichment. Many are 'fun', but they feel like their own separate thing rather than a natural part of the world.

It is just such a stark contrast. This is how to design a world and things in it to do. You fill it with things and unleash the player on it. The uninspired 'gamey' nature of quests in the rest of the AAA industry feels so sterile and boring now.

If the industry takes one thing away, they should learn to stop making stupid sidequests. The blueprint is right in front of them.