We see for the first time the game in operation and we know the first details of the RPG called to continue the legacy of Bioware.
“You must gather your party before venturing forth”, reminded us of the deep voice of Kevin Michael Richardson in the original Baldur's Gate, the reminder that in order to go out with the whole group on a stage, they had to be the whole group together in the door. A purely technical detail, but that we listened constantly throughout the adventure, sometimes until exasperation. The route of our characters was not always the best, and as much as you tried to make our adventurers all go to the same point, it was not always possible and we had to shepherd them to the indicated point while the message was played again and again. Over time, and the nostalgia that softens everything, it has become an endearing element of the original, a meme and a symbol; "You have to gather your group before venturing", an invitation to adventure, something appropriate for one of the great references of the Western RPG.
Now, more than 20 years after the launch of Baldur’s Gate, the torch passes to a new developer. The license that catapulted Bioware to fame is now in the hands of Larian, the creators of Divinity, which is more than appropriate considering the important specific weight that the Belgian study has dismantled in the revitalization of the old school RPG in the last years. Faced with an effort to create the "Skyrim killer", in the face of an absurd escalation of production values and a suicidal attempt to develop cinematic RPGs or not, an alliance between users and a select group of studies gathered thanks to Kickstarter decided that if the industry did not give value to the classics, they would do it instead. Observe, inXile and Larian emergence from there as the new references of the classic RPG, creating excellent role-playing productions that recovered the canons of the golden age of Interplay and Black Isle: the two Original Sin, the two Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2 … all with Remarkable success of criticism and sales, showing that there was interest from the first place.
Back to the adventure
Now, all that has crystallized in a renewed interest of Wizards of the Coast, the owners of AD&D, in the video game. There are many who have knocked on the door to use Baldur’s Gate, in the most varied projects. From attempts to follow the steps of Bioware to another class of projects. Not surprisingly, Baldur’s Gate was not only the most successful RPG of its time, it also propelled a successful ARPG series for console and is one of the most recognizable names in the rolero universe, so suitors have had many during these years. But in the end it has been the great international success of Original Sin in all areas that has allowed this team to be chosen to return the franchise to life and its rightful place.
We travel to Paris, where Larian has quoted media from all over Europe as prior to the great world presentation held at PAX East these days. Baldur’s Gate 3 has already been announced, but we knew absolutely nothing about it, just seen it in that cinematic sequence. It is as part of this event, organized together thinking in press and in public, when we will have our first contact with the game and know the intentions of the team to continue one of the most prestigious legacies of the game. Several members of the study, led by the charismatic figure of its director, the charismatic Swen Vincke, prepare to introduce us to their vision of the game and take us by the hand for the first hours of gameplay that we will see. We cannot play yet, the study members openly acknowledge that there are too many bugs yet for the experience to be profitable, but Sven plays for us on several stages for a few hours to illustrate all the key points he wants to move us.
We know that the veterans of the classics have very specific questions in their heads, and as we also are veterans, we fully understand those concerns. So let's answer the ones we know in the most concise way possible.
The fight? in turns, 100%
Yes, one of the big doubts since the game became official was that of the combat system. Baldur's Gate took a real-time system with optional stop, a quadrature of the circle inspired by the success of the RTS, which sought to convince executives and stores that it was a new vision of the role, nothing to do with the RPG turn-based classic on which bad reputation had fallen for several accumulated commercial failures. The system was baptized as RTwP (Real Time with Pause) and became the saint and hallmark of many games of its generation, which could be sold as more cerebral alternatives to Diablo and thus convince of its commercial viability.
The doubt was quickly clarified: Baldur’s Gate 3 will have fighting strictly in turns, similar to the Divinity. The game uses an evolution of the Original Sin engine and therefore uses a system that strongly remembers its previous successes, although using the rules of AD&D as a basis. This will inevitably be a disappointment for many and in the study they are aware, but they are confident that they will be able to demonstrate that their choice will benefit the game and the depth and variety of their combat system.
Sequel? No, a new adventure 100 years later
From the beginning it is clear that despite the "3", this is not a direct sequel, but a completely new adventure, with the seal of the study and its vision. The story of the first two Baldur’s Gate and its extensions is already told, it is part of the past, both in reality and in the game itself. A century has passed since then, these events happened and have their mark on the world, normal given the scale of events, but we are in a new scenario that leaves the team's creators free to create their own campaign without ties or debts . A new cult, called "of the Absolute," is weaving its threads for all the Forgotten Realms with the aim of ending everything established. These insidies are far from the worries of our protagonist, kidnapped by Whippers of Mind and infected by a worm that will make him one of them if he does not find a solution soon.
Dialogues? Moral decisions? Peer relationships?
In Larian they know that AD&D are major words. It is not the same to have a world like that of Divinity, which is theirs and that they have been building as they have wanted for almost two decades to handle one of the most iconic franchises of contemporary fantasy. It is a challenge, but also an opportunity that the Belgian team has wanted to use to raise its production values. The default camera is an area, but in the dialogues the camera will approach to show our interlocutors face to face, with actors giving voice to the lines and with facial animations appropriate to the occasion. The effect is quite reminiscent of Dragon Age and the camera is flexible enough to show us both large portions of the mapping and closer and cinematic perspectives.
We can create a group of up to four characters, with the protagonist, and establish deep relationships with them through dialogues and decisions. As in the original Baldur’s Gate, everyone has their agenda and their point of view, so they can question our actions and leave us if their values do not correspond to ours. The classic alignment system will be very present and will manifest itself in the way we interact with others. There will, of course, be a reputation system and our crimes will be taken into account if we decide that way, so we will be treated differently depending on who we interact with. The whole game, they told us, is designed so that at the end of our adventure we feel that we have left our mark on the world.
Origins, key to develop your character
When creating our character we have the freedom that one would expect. We can customize different facial and physical features, select between 15 races and sub-terraces and a class based on the strength or weakness of our attributes – for the moment eight, although there will be more in the final version. But the most interesting is the presence of the “origins”, some archetypes that we can select and that mark where we come from and our personal history, which has important consequences for our character both in the battle and in the narrative. In the demonstration our character was a minor vampire, subjected to the wishes of a master vampire until we are kidnapped and subjected to the process of transforming the Scourgers. Once we escape we find that we are not only strong enough to resist the mental bond with our master, but we can even walk in full light. From here, all kinds of personal situations will be developed and with our group in which we will have to choose different options, depending on the way in which we want to play our character.
The dice are the law
A vital aspect both in combat and in any action of the game is to understand that, following the basis of Dragons and Dungeons, everything is determined by a combination of attributes, equipment, origins and, above all, the dice. If we are in a dialogue and try to use charisma to convince our interlocutor, we must throw and overcome a minimum score depending on the circumstances – we will even see the dice and the exact result of what we have taken, without cheating or cardboard. Even with situations in which our attributes give us the advantage, we can fail and that will always generate some tension -Sven failed a roll that only asked him to overcome three with two dice of ten, obtaining a hilarious two-. There will obviously be licenses regarding the board game, but it seems clear that the intention is to get something close to the base material.
A combat full of strategy
Larian's choice for turns, following in the footsteps of his successful Original Sin, will be controversial because of the name he carries, but it is clear that if that is the system that has raised his previous games, it is normal for them to feel confident that it is the best way they can create the best possible game. The game runs in real time until we find enemies, at which time the system will take turns and we will have to properly manage our group. There are several aspects that have been emphasized in this regard: one is a more vertical scenario, with several heights likely to be used to gain tactical advantage over our rivals. Positioning our equipment in high places has obvious advantages, especially using remote weapons such as bows or crossbows. For example, in one of the battles we were able to position a member of our group on the wooden supports on the roof of a large room, a perfect point on which to shoot enemies advantageously.
Another detail in which it was emphasized is that the stealth system and the way in which light and shadow will be used will be an advance over what was seen in the Original Sin. There will be a more elaborate system that will use the tools that grant the rules of AD&D to be able to play sibylline characters that are able to surprise the opponent. What does not change is the entire physical framework, the possibility of using environmental elements to our advantage or the freedom to develop a wide range of strategies according to the configuration of our group. The players of the last Divinity can get a solid idea of the kind of title that awaits them, although with the typical flavor of the role classic, since the goal is to create the “most authentic AD&D game to date”.
A dark story
As part of the event we had the pleasure of chatting with Adam Smith, senior writer, who drew us brushstrokes of what we could expect at the narrative level. It will be a great campaign, up to 100 hours. There will be elements of high fantasy, romance, tragedy, but also diverse elements depending on our character and circumstances: being a vampire we can expect elements of Gothic terror, if we want to follow that route. There will be moments of fun, companionship or heroism, but also tension, darkness and hopelessness. You want to play all the sticks and also leave the player a certain flexibility depending on the kind of character you want to do, but it is clear that the general tone you are looking for is “very dark”, it is not a joyful adventure in the field hunting Kobolds.
In fact, taking advantage of the issue of the Kobolds, we could not resist asking about the scale, the starting point. A new beginning with hordes of orcs and kobolds as the main enemy as in the first? No, none of that, we will not start as someone who starts from scratch, we will have a previous trajectory, skills and extraordinary circumstances. We will not end up in the same place as Throne of Bhaal in terms of power, for sure, but neither will we start killing rats.
When?
There is no planned release date, but there is an intention: Early Access for this year, something that is already announced and has been a constant in the Original Sin. Surely it will be a few months in paid beta, so we can speculate with 2021 as the most likely year, if there are no surprises. At the moment, officially there is no release date. So far what we know in this first contact, although it is clear that there is much to know yet and that the road has only just begun so that, two decades later, we can again get lost in the streets of Baldur Gate .
