Few things are more dangerous to an RPG’s momentum than a quest that makes players feel they've been pulled away from the adventure they actually wanted to have. Dragon Age: Origins has one particularly infamous example, a strange detour that has remained divisive years after BioWare's classic first launched. The problem with unusual RPG content isn't necessarily that it is unusual, but sometimes the strangest detours become the moments players remember most.

Baldur's Gate 3 understands this well. Larian Studio's rich RPG is packed with bizarre encounters, unsettling discoveries, unexpected side characters, and side stories that can send a playthrough in directions' players never anticipated. The difference is that much of this content feels like something to uncover rather than an obstacle standing between the player and the main adventure. By looking at it and Dragon Age: Origins side by side, an important lesson about RPG design is revealed: weird content works best when players feel like it's their choice to get lost in it.

These games will all appeal to BG3 fans with deep narratives, impactful choices, and expansive worlds. Expect to make some tough decisions.

The Fade is easy to criticize in hindsight, but its reputation as Dragon Age: Origins ’ most infamous detour overlooks why BioWare put it there in the first place . The Mage Tower sequence takes the Warden out of Ferelden and into a surreal realm of dreams, demons, and shapeshifting, temporarily abandoning the party-based structure that defined much of Origins . That makes it a genuine change of pace rather than another corridor of enemies and dialogue, and for a game so concerned with magic (and the dangers lurking behind it), visiting the Fade seems thematically appropriate.

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