Baldur's Gate 3 - Preview of the new masterpiece from Larian Studios

There are video games that, just like a beautiful girl, never stop being inexorably waiting, being talked about and feeling important, because sometimes they really are important; and just like the most classic of clichés, where on the first date the beautiful girl will be delayed by about an hour, Baldur's Gate 3 is not far behind. In fact, almost 20 years have passed since its last appearance, but in all this time there has been no time, month or day that the title has not been named. Officially announced during the presentation conference of Google Stadia in 2019, Larian Studios has now shown a fair amount of gameplay that has allowed us to see and understand more closely how a video game that has been missing from the world panorama for about 4 decades, will still be able to dictate the law and impose its own dominance within a genre that , in recent years, it has begun to enjoy a greater catchment area than in the past, also thanks to the titles created by this skilled studio. They will be able to erect once again, through a perfect mix of evocative settings drawn from Dungeons & Dragons and more dynamic gameplay like that of Divinity: Original Sin 2? Let's find out together.

The Mind Flayer arrives

Let's start by telling you that Baldur's Gate 3 is based precisely on the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons and is placed immediately after the epilogue of the paper campaign Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. All this means that the events now narrated are placed at a time distance of about 100 years from the second main chapter developed by BioWare. The Mental Scourger (Mind Flayer) attacked the city of Baldur's Gate and kidnapped its citizens for horrific experiments. The character we controlled was also captured by the fearsome Illithid and, in spite of himself, a larva has been grafted inside the body that distinguishes the process of Ceremorphosis. We will therefore be destined to turn ourselves into a new Mind Flayer. However, this situation of ours also allows us to have some additional powers that are also impossible. Once the inhabited center was razed to the ground they rushed to help the wyverns ready to stop the advance of the monstrous humanoid. The Nautilus is now on the run and forced to use teleportation to escape. This "man" hunt will not last long, however, as the Mind Flyer has been engulfed again by the flames of the wyverns and the ship is now shattered.

A little Baldur's Gate, a little D&D

Like any other self-respecting role-playing game, the first step to take within the adventure is that of creating the game character and, in Baldur's Gate 3, this mechanic is almost enormous. It will in fact be possible to choose between 15 races or subraces and 8 classes which guarantee "little more" than a hundred possible variables, all taken from the fifth edition of D&D. The developers also wanted to have their say by introducing two particular mechanics in terms of gameplay and creating creatures that can be used as main characters. In this way we could then use a predetermined avatar with his name, his story and all the bonds that follow both in the short and long term. This also allows you to support a second narrative arc in addition to the one already conceived by the software house as a game background.

Even setting up a camp, between one mission and another, will be essential to weave plots that are impossible to know in any other way. A choice that greatly expands the already vast play offer (about 60/70 hours for the plot but with a monstrous replayability) that Larian Studios will put in our hands. As for the two mechanics inserted by the authors, we know that the first concerns the Points of Inspiration. These "jokers", in the most famous board game, are given by the Dungeon Master if the player behaves impeccably according to his chosen "alignment", however the senior producer David Walgrave said these bonuses will always be an integral part of the game but will be released when we complete particularly heroic feats. The second change implemented instead concerns, as we said before, the introduction of characters now called "Origin Character”Which are composed as follows: Warrior Githyanki Lae'zel, Wizard Gale, Cleric Shadowheart, Warlock Wyll and Astarion the Vampire.

Baldur's Gate 3 it will use, like most of the games of this genre, an isometric view also called hawk eye that will guarantee us a total and immersive view of the vast game area entirely recreated in 3D. The graphics engine used (Divinity 4.0) is the same as Divinity: Original Sin 2 further enhanced than in the past. The title not only shares the technical part, but also a fair slice of the gameplay experience that the authors have stored in them. The activities in Baldur's Gate 3 will all be carried out in real time with the exception of fights; here, in fact, the action changes into the most classic of role-playing games by proposing one turn-based mode just like in reality.

In the exploratory phases, however, it will still be possible switchare from the "mode" in real time to the turn-based one and thus allow a more detailed analysis of the surrounding area or better study the dungeon that we will face shortly before a battle. During the attack phase the classic mechanics of the board game come out in all their splendor: move the characters taking care not to consume the movement bar (different for each type of class chosen), perform actions before and after the movement, change from one character to another by giving orders, and all the more classic actions such as using spells, special abilities, items, gadgets, simple physical activities such as pushing an enemy off a cliff or jumping from a ledge to a platform, are all essential elements that will make the difference between life and death. The positioning of our characters (for a maximum of 4 in our party) will also be decisive.

The dice and the consequences of the dialogues

Those who play D&D know very well that those who are higher have an advantage over those who are lower. Here, therefore, that, even before starting a battle, the choice of the positioning of the game characters and the study of the entire surrounding area will become fundamental for the fight as well as the ability to surprise an enemy in order to be able to activate the fight first. These mechanics will be really important within the whole adventure, and for this reason the areas created by Larian Studios enjoy an enormously increased verticality. All of this not only enhances the combat experience, but gives the game an immense depth that is difficult even to explain in words. The strategic element such as proximity to an enemy, the presence of objects, barriers, explosives or natural elements of the map are all points that you must keep an eye on in order not to run into defeat. Another essential element for a mammoth game like this is undoubtedly the apparatus of the dialogues: many, many, as well as the quests, the choices related to them and all of them rendered in an almost cinematic way.

Each dialogue is potentially a succession of cause and effect both immediately and in the long run. The level of interactivity is almost infinite and there will be no moment in which a simple action such as a theft, a last minute choice or a wrong answer leads to consequences that are also impossible to discover with all the relative consequences, for good or for bad. In addition to all this epic of combat system and game mechanics, we must not forget the element that more than any other distinguishes the basics of a board game like D&D, that is the roll of the dice. Almost all the actions that we will do in the course of the adventure are governed by the launch of the latter: the damage of the weapons caused by an attack, a choice of dialogue, an action that recalls a statistic of the character or a skill and many more. , they all always need a shot that will define their success or failure. The game in this "helps" by always showing the minimum number needed to win it, but in the event that we do not succeed, the consequences can be sometimes drastic and other times not very influential. Furthermore, the title will also make shots without our knowledge to unlock advanced knowledge. It will in fact be possible, through a dedicated window, to always consult the launches that the game makes in the background and observe where we have been luckier or not so that we can get an idea of ​​what we fail or not.

Arrival around the corner

Baldur's Gate 3 is all this and much more. The version shown by the guys from Larian Studios it was still an incomplete phase of all the technical elements and had some imperfections that, with the time left, will surely be fixed. The title is currently expected on PC e Google Stadia during this 2020 and, as said by the developers, it will also enjoy a version in early access, coming in a few months, which will allow users to play the game even earlier, enjoying the work done by the authors and release useful comments and feedback for the final release. After the first chapter released in the now distant 1998 and then continued with Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (first expansion in 1999), Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (latest expansion 2001), the long-awaited third chapter of this twenty-year saga is now upon us. The adventure ahead of us is huge, layered, vast, and even enjoyable entirely in online multiplayer for up to four players (complete with cross-platform) or a split screen (offline) for up to two users. We just have to wait a few more months, after all, we have waited almost twenty years.