These ripples of consequence result in a world that feels alive, and even give NPCs agency, but they also inspire hesitation when decisiveness is required out of the fear that one or more of these choices will kill another quest. Many of the NPCs you’ll meet have relationships and allegiances that affect more than one quest, and seemingly unrelated events can collide, cutting adventures short. The journal quickly becomes impossible to parse, and directions from NPCs can be vague, but it’s another otherwise welcome feature that really complicates things: the connected nature of the world. They’re great, fat with unexpected turns and rewarding character moments, but keeping track of them is hard work. Larian loves its headscratchers, populating Rivellon with riddles, moral conundrums and ancient mysteries.

These neat tricks don’t mean the quests are simple. As she gushed about her son, it dawned on me, I knew this guy.