The story behind the development of Baldur’s Gate 3 sounds almost like a quest in Dungeons and Dragons: Wizards of the Coast was very careful with the IP, turning down an offer from big names like Brian Fargo and Obsidian Entertainment, waiting for the one to be true. After first declining an offer from Larian, the Belgian developer is the proverbial hero allowed to use the IP, after the enormous success of Divinity: Original Sin 2. Now in early access, the game has officially embarked on an adventure for the ultimate prize: to become a worthy successor to one of the greatest isometric RPGs of all time.
It still feels like the absolute beginning is true Baldur’s Gate is able to do so, but still the amount of content you can get started with is not wrong: most of the first arc is in the game (which took me about thirty hours), six classes of the final twelve, eight races, over 600 NPCs and five companions. The rules are those of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, and anyone recently D&D will recognize the rules and things like saving throws, perception checks and profiency. For those who are completely new to the world of tabletop Baldur’s Gate 3 kept surprisingly simple: things like perception checks in the wilderness happen automatically and checks within conversations are simplified to a target and the well-known twenty-sided dice.
Nevertheless Baldur’s Gate 3 early access, and that quickly becomes clear during the first minutes of playing the game. Appearances of NPCs glitch through the wall or through the floor, some voice-over conversations have no sound, and sometimes a completely black wall appears right through a dungeon due to a graphics bug. It’s not unplayable, but if things like this frustrate you easily, it’s better to Baldur’s Gate 3 for now. There is still a lot of work to be done before everything runs smoothly, but Larian manages to pump out the hot fixes at a fast pace.
And despite those bugs, there is already a damn good story. It starts with a strong “hook” in which you are a prisoner on a flying Nautiloid ship, where you must escape from the clutches of the mindflayers. That is not without a struggle: creatures from the demonic Nine Hells attack the ship and you have to find your way out among the chaos.
And then you are dropped into the world of Faerûn where you have to find a cure for the parasite in your brain that slowly turns you into a mindflayer. And here’s where Larian’s storytelling really comes into its own: there are statues and ruins laced with the lore of the main continent of the Forgotten realms, and the art style fits well with a game that draws its greatest inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons.
Then there are the companions. A bigger improvement on Divinity 2 is that the background of the companions is not immediately clear when you meet them: with the Red Prince you could already reasonably well predict what his goal was, but with companions (especially Shadowheart) you are watched with suspicion and you will have to figure it out for yourself . That mystery makes them interesting, although some like Lae’zel can seem a bit superficial with their constant focus on fighting. That is another big plus Baldur’s Gate 3 dares to deviate from companions à la Bioware: you cannot specifically map out a strategy so that everyone thinks you are fantastic. Even if a companion is not with you, he or she will receive what you have done and adjust his behavior accordingly. And if you want to go for love, you still have to make a choice: characters can become jealous when you run off with someone else, but some are also polyamorous.
I am myself D&D-player, and the 5th edition seems to be the ideal fit for that too Baldur’s Gate 3: the rules are simple and clear, but also offer enough creativity that fits well with the development philosophy that Larian seems to have for Baldur’s Gate 3. If you come up with a creative strategy, you can usually do it: for example, I managed to kill a dangerous boss with a push into a nearby abyss, instead of normal combat. There are a lot of choices to make within conversations, and within the first few hours I get the impression that for every path I choose, there are at least four alternatives to take. That’s partly the magic of it Dungeons and Dragons – making choices and living with the consequences – but I couldn’t help but create multiple characters, each with a different playing style, to see what I missed. (And yes, I’ve also been guilty of savescumming a number of times to see what would happen if I did pass a check).
But the aforementioned rules are both a blessing and a curse: it invites creativity, but can also limit it unnecessarily. The game is your dungeon master here, and it is pretty strict: when a TPK (total party kill) threatens, the AI cannot adjust the difficulty of the fights, and when you have to do the fight again you already know what is going on come. This makes it feel more like beating a very predictable, unfair DM in its own game. For me, the role of the DM is to challenge the players, knowing that you have to lose in the end, and then adjust your session accordingly. A game like Baldur’s Gate 3 can’t make that decision.
But Larian Studios does its best to give you as many options as possible to tackle an obstacle or enemy. I mentioned pushing a boss before, but there are also a lot of skill checks you can make during conversations, you can win temporary allies for yourself, and because almost all fifth edition spells are Baldur’s Gate 3 you can also go for “classic” options such as charm person and animal friendship. Your class and race can also play a role: if you have chosen a drow, you can walk through a goblin camp without any problems because the races have a common history in the Underdark. I had hoped that you could make more use of your environment as in Divinity: Original Sin, but hopefully that will come in a later build.
There’s a lot to get excited about in Baldur’s Gate 3, but I think the game needs a little more development time before it can really do its justice. The first impressions of the story are there, but an RPG has to be interesting to me throughout the game. I’m also curious about the options that lie ahead, such as multiclasses and subclasses such as assassin for rogue and the archfey patron for warlock. I secretly hope that too Baldur’s Gate reflects on the modular nature of Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition and with mods homebrews like the blood hunter and artificer makes possible. I’d like to see more before making my final verdict, but first impressions are positive. And given the previous successes of Larian Studios, I have full confidence that things will also work out fine Baldur’s Gate 3.
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