Of all the things Baldur’s Gate 3 players could pick up on, I never expected they’d take issue with the game’s feathered, tree-dwelling wildlife. But according to a flock of bird fans, Baldur’s Gate 3 is much, much too kind with its portrayal of blue jays.
Depending on your perspective, fantasy RPG game Baldur’s Gate 3 is either a shocking piece of blue jay propaganda or an attempt to repair the reputation of a wrongly-maligned bird. That’s the topic of discussion in one BG3 forum and it’s caused quite a stir.
Playing Baldur’s Gate 3, you may encounter these birds, where they’re portrayed as adorable little creatures, the kind of feathered friends that would befriend a Disney heroine.
They have a beautiful melodious song and one of the blue jays will even enlist your help in removing a giant eagle from his nest. Awww. But according to a host of Reddit users, these birds are in fact squawking little monsters.
“A real blue jay would call up a bunch of his blue jay friends and attack the eagles en masse in an act called mobbing, because blue jays are suicidally overconfident,” explains Reddit user AstroAri.
Tongue firmly wedged in their cheek, AstroAri explains,”I think Larian thinks blue jays are like regular bluebirds or songbirds, when they’re actually just crows but smaller and more evil.”
The thread in question erupts into a mixture of pro-blue jay and anti- blue jay sentiment. Never mind that this is a world where your head can turn into a big squid; this is what matters.
So who’s right? A little poking around suggests that blue jays don’t entirely deserve their reputation as bullies. But they have been known to steal from other birds’ nests and, as a strange side note, they collect paint chips so they have enough calcium for egg-laying. Plus, someone liked them enough to name a baseball team after them.
One strange thing is that if you knock the eagles down in the blue jay quest, the bird will murder the eagles. That could be a bug or maybe it’s Larian’s one cheeky nod to their alleged behaviour.
I’m willing to give this one to Larian. This is a fantasy world, after all. Maybe this is the alternative universe where, that eagle-murdering jay aside, blue jays aren’t all jackasses.
If you’re working your way through Baldur’s Gate 3, whether you’ve run into blue jays or not, here’s how to recruit the animal-friendly druid Halsin. And if it’s Baldur’s Gate 3 crafting you’re after, check out our guide.