Baldur’s Gate 3 players divided over romance being “nerfed” in latest update
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 players have been left divided after the recent patch nerfs romance and companions’ advances.
Since its arrival out of Early Access in September, Baldur’s Gate 3 has received tons of hotfixes and large patches, with the aim of making the game much more enjoyable for players, removing all those tricky bugs, and even adding in new elements.
However, all the changes made to Baldur’s Gate 3 aren’t going to be popular among the community, with certain elements being removed or nerfed. One such nerf is romance, which serves to reduce the speed and intensity of the companions’ advances – but it’s not a change everyone wants.
Some Baldur’s Gate 3 players upset as update “nerfed romance”
Larian StudiosSharing their frustrations on Reddit, one user explained how the “Stupid patch [is] de-hornying everybody” and that their second playthrough isn’t allowing them to romance their companions as easily or quickly.
Many other players felt the same frustrations, explaining how “This new patch fix really has ruined my second play through, not only is the romance nerfed but none of [the] companions react or give s**t about anything happening” perhaps hinting to a larger change than many realized.
“Patch 3 really was a rough one, man” stated one Baldur’s Gate 3 player. Explaining how, despite having a high approval, players were shot down by companions.
However, others gave an alternative perspective as to why this change was made: “Last patch they nerfed romance. Reasoning was that people were complaining they were constantly getting hit on. Need higher approval now, they won’t say they want to taste the sweat dripping off your muscles anymore when they have a neutral or negative opinion of you. Need that high approval rating.” Such a change is certainly a nerf, but it’s also arguably more natural for many players.
Interestingly, some players suggested other ways Larian could reach the approval of all players, explaining how they “wish there were obvious flirty dialogue options that would trigger romance routes instead of approval making them want to jump my bones. Like I’m just being friendly guys.”
Others suggested adding a “libido slider. Let us adjust how rampagingly horny our companions are.”
It seems, in both real life and video games, romance is a hotly contested topic that’s never as easy as it seems.