Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most anticipated modern era RPGs. Larian game studio is the developer of the third iteration of Baldur’s Gate. The game will be published by Larian Studios as well. It is actually a huge step for the studio considering the scope and size of the studio. The Baldur’s Gate franchise defined the RPG era in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many modern RPGs are based on the formula that was initially established by the Baldur’s Gate games.
It’s befitting to see Larian studio develop the game since many consider Divinity: Original Sin, a spiritual successor of the Baldur’s Gate franchise. While the game will feature similarities with the Divinity games, the game will basically be based on the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
Nearly two decades after the release of Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, the third iteration promises to combine the classic and modern aspects of RPG mechanics to deliver an authentic PC RPG experience. The release date of the game is still not revealed yet. The game will be available through Steam’s early access program later this year. The game will be released simultaneously on PC and Google Stadia. However, there’s no word regarding the release for current-gen consoles.
The CEO of Larian Swen Vincke got to the stage of PAX EAST and showed the early demo of the game. In a conversation with Eurogamer, the executive producer of Baldur’s Gate 3 said, “I don’t think that current-gen consoles would be able to run it. There’s a lot of technical upgrades and updates that we did to our engine, and I don’t know if it would be capable of being able to actually run on those things.”
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Here’s the whole stream of the gameplay demo.
Campaign
The campaign of Baldur’s Gate 3, as mentioned earlier, is based on the Dungeons & Dragons lore. The rulesets will be based on the D&D fifth edition so, the people far with the hugely popular RPG will feel at home with this game. The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms universe of D&D. The absolute cult is slowly getting the support, and at the same time, the armies of orcs, goblins, and other creatures are rushing towards the Baldur’s Gate city.
The game’s opening cinematic is presented below. After the events in the opening cinematic, the player character struggles to survive the raging attacks of dragons. The character must now navigate its way through the treacherous journey ahead into the narrative.
During the intro, the game lets you build your character, its race, gender, class, and the skillset. Every character has a slightly different origin story; however, the game follows the same story for every character. The final game will have 15 Dungeons & Dragons races and sub-races, as well as eight classes.
Gameplay and Combat
Baldur’s Gate is playable either in a third-person perspective or bird’s eye view. The overhead view is the best if you want the experience to be the same as the D&D. The world exploration is real-time; however, the combat is purely turn-based. There are many ways to approach the battle, and players can use the land for the advantage. For example, if you place your team to higher ground, it will result in a tactical advantage since the enemies have to come to you. The game also lets you control each character of your team individually, which is not possible in D&D.
The game provides many opportunities for the players to take critical decisions into their hands, and attention to detail is the key if you plan on going strategically rather than the traditional hack and slash.
Dialogues and Dice Rolls
Dialogues and conversation are the key aspects of the RPGs. These mechanics drastically change the course of the game and hence differentiate RPGs and linear games (e.g., Last of Us, Uncharted series). The game offers a range of different dialogue options depending upon the character’s customization.
Additionally, the game incorporates the Dice Roll mechanic from the D&D franchise. These occur mainly during the conversations, but sometimes the game offers Dice Rolls during battle situations too.
