Baldur's Gate

Baldur’s Gate 3: What We Know

It has been, what seems like an eternity since we last had the pleasure of devoting hours upon hours of time into a Baldur’s Gate game. I remember in the 2000s playing Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance 2 on my older brother’s crystal Xbox and being thoroughly immersed in the narrative and game-play. At the time I had no idea that it was set in the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons because it was never a popular game at my school. I vaguely remember always choosing to play a rogue despite the fact I would run head-on into battle. This always ended in me getting absolutely wasted by the enemies and one very annoyed brother.

I don’t think I ever finished the game just because of how much there was to explore away from the main story. But look at where we are now. The hellish year of 2020 is giving us an olive branch with Baldur’s Gate 3. When the news hit the front page of social media I let out a yell of joy, because goddamn this is the news I have been waiting for.

© 2020 LARIAN STUDIOS

The return of Baldur’s Gate holds hope so delicately in its grasp with the promise of filling that void so many have tried filling with the likes of Divinity: Original Sin 2. We will be returning once more to the Forgotten Realms with our party. It is lining up to be a tale of companionship, survival, sacrifice and betrayal while fighting the ever tempting lure of absolute power.

There is a formidable foe that we may have only faced in our D&D sessions with friends late into the night, the Mind Flayer. This monster, or friend (no judgement here), has literally wormed its way into our brain in the form of a parasite. This creature has awoken an array of mysterious abilities inside us. Leading to paths where we can resist the darkness or embrace the corrupting forces to become the ultimate evil.

The planned release date is the 30th of September 2020, fingers crossed it goes according to plan.

We have the ability to choose from a wide variety of D&D races and classes, which sounds promising considering how many options there are. Or we could play as an origin character that has its own hand-crafted background. Like the previous games, we find ourselves on an adventure filled with loot, battles and romance as we continue our journey through the Forgotten Realms and beyond. Baldur’s Gate 3 has confirmed it has multiplayer with a party of up to four. You can also play alone and select your companions carefully (hinting at the possibility of companion betrayal?).

© 2020 LARIAN STUDIOS

This beautiful game has been created using the new Divinity 4.0 engine. This allows us to have an extraordinary amount of freedom to explore the world around us. You can test and experiment with the world itself which in turn will react to the choices we make. This narrative helps us become closer and more immersed with the characters around us as we journey through the world. We will be able to explore the many regions/landscapes that we are thrown into. We can climb up mountains (say goodbye to rapid jumping to get up mountains like in Skyrim), sneak, shove and jump as we weave our way through this story. There is almost an endless amount of freedom for us as we leave our marks on the landscape.

Online Multiplayer – Up to Four Players

This will allow us to join forces with strangers, or friends, as we fight our way to victory. We will be able to split up to deal with different quests and agendas. You can work together to get things done faster or you could set up a nefarious plan to stab them in the back when they least expect it… It is up to you what you do and who you become.

Origin Characters

These will give a hand-crafted experience with each one having its own unique traits, agenda and personal view of the world around them. Like in Divinity, each character’s story will play its own part in the overall story. The player’s decisions further impact what happens, whether the story ends with redemption, salvation, domination, or something completely different.

Turned Based Combat

This combat is based on the D&D 5e ruleset. There is team-based initiative, advantages and disadvantages as well as roll modifiers joining in the combat camera. This takes place in expanded environmental interactions. On top of all these exciting factors is a new fluidity to combat the values and rewards strategy, and foresight (no more rushing in anymore).

Make Your Own Impact On The Future

Each roll of the dice and decision you make will have an impact on the world around you. No matter the character you pick, the surrounding world and its inhabitants will react accordingly.

Player-Initiated Turn-Based Mode

This gives you the unique ability to pause the world around you, even when not engaged in combat. It can be done if you see an opportunity to get a tactical advantage before combat begins. Or if you want more precision for certain scenarios or to escape traps. It even gives you opportunities to split the party up and attack from all angles. Whatever you can think of, you can probably do. The future of the world rests on your shoulders.

© 2020 Larian Studios