Delightful Baldurs Gate 3 - 10 Things You Should Know About The Game (Topic)

Developed by Larian Studious, the role-playing game Baldur's Gate 3 was able to divide players into two irreconcilable camps in the first gameplay demonstration. On the one hand, we have RPG fans who are firmly convinced that the third "Baldur's Gate" is the best thing that has happened to the genre in recent years. On the other hand, there are more fans of the original dilogy, claiming that the new game from Larian is anything but Baldur's Gate 3. Before the release, it is difficult to say how much the project corresponds to the canons of the D & D universe, but one thing is certain - Baldur's Gate 3 is going to be a real RPG event, so we've collected 10 things to know about the game.

1. Turn-based combat and exploration

No matter how some fans of the Baldur's Gate series oppose, it is unlikely to be as before. Instead of a real-time combat with an active pause, a turn-based system came. Why this happened, we told in a long interview with the creators of Baldur's Gate 3. In short, for two reasons: firstly, according to Larian, D & D mechanics work best within a turn-based system, and secondly, the developers use turn-based combat. as due to previously released games they have extensive experience with it.

In this case, it is not surprising that the gameplay of Baldur's Gate 3 is in many ways similar to Divinity: Original Sin 2. As before, the heart of combat is competent control of each of the squad members and interaction with objects of the environment. Here, too, there were some interesting solutions. For example, unlike many turn-based games, in Baldur's Gate 3, each new turn allows you to control not one character, but an entire group of heroes in random order. Before the start of each battle, the team of the player and the opponent rolls a die, according to the results of which it becomes clear whose move will be the first.

Of course, whoever goes first always has more potential options for action. To solve this problem, you can use another feature: step by step mode during research. When activated, you can actively interact with the environment, sneak, or successfully position all members of the group at the location before the start of the battle.

2. Bonus actions as a key to victory

When creating the Baldur's Gate 3 game, the developers pursue the goal of conveying in a virtual form all the variety of scenarios for the fifth edition of DnD board games, where, with the proper imagination, there are practically no completely hopeless situations. This concept is difficult to implement and requires expanding the tools with which we can interact with the game world. For these purposes, Baldur's Gate 3 introduced bonus actions, a bar with which is located at the bottom of the screen.

Bonus actions involve physical interaction with objects and can be used to solve numerous tasks when exploring the world or in the combat system. For example, there are actions that allow you to throw objects and enemies off the ledge, others allow you to jump, others allow you to throw an inventory item at enemies or interact with the environment using weapons, setting fire to the oil floor with a fiery blade.

3. Trust the occasion

As with many classic PC RPGs, Baldur's Gate 3 is all about in-game dice. Only unlike the same Neverwinter Nights, in the new Larian game we do not see the percentage probabilities next to the planned action, but in fact we roll a twenty-sided die, according to the results of which a positive or negative result is accepted. Fair enough and very clear solution to the problem of probability theory in CRPG, which brings Baldur's Gate 3 even closer to board games.

4. Error is just the beginning

Using the keyboard shortcut "fast save - fast load" can be called an integral part of most role-based projects. The reason for this situation is obvious: few people like to lose and when everything does not go according to plan, because often the game painfully punishes for any mistakes and in other cases it simply cuts off access to some of the content, without offering anything in return. In Baldur's Gate 3 on PC, the developers plan to fix this oversight by teaching the player not to be afraid of mistakes.

The game pursues the principle of real life, which says "when you are wrong, the adventure begins", which is expressed both in the alternative options for the development of the assignment previously prescribed by the scriptwriters, and in the gameplay mechanics. On the example of the first gameplay of Baldur's Gate 3, Sven Winke clearly showed that thanks to the abundance of mechanics and opportunities, there is always a chance to win and even your own failures can be turned into pluses.

5. Beautiful and effective as never before

Isometric computer role-playing games are clearly not the genre in which we are used to seeing an impressive picture and a spectacular presentation of a story. It is unlikely that most CRPG developers are against adding a modern polish to games. The whole problem is insufficient budgets due to the not very popular genre.

Luckily for us, Larian Studious are not suffering from a lack of money and are preparing to release the first true AAA CRPG game since Dragon Age: Origins. It goes into action as a cinematic presentation of the game, ranging from the introductory CGI video and ending with in-game cutscenes together with dozens of hours of dialogue filmed from real actors using the Mo-Cap technology, and ending with the Divinity Engine 4.0, sporting new technologies. According to the developers, it is hardly worth waiting for Baldur's Gate 3 on PS4 and Xbox One precisely because of the technical backwardness of the 2013 consoles, so we are definitely looking forward to a pretty picture.

6. Possibility to become an illithid

The recently revealed cinematic trailer for Baldur's Gate III is nothing more than the game's storyline. The most important moment in the video is how an illithid (a Cthulhu-like character with tentacles on his face) places a larva in the body of a hero, for whom we will begin to play. According to the Forgotten Realms mythology, the larva over time not only captures the brain of the new owner, but also turns that into an illithid, so one of the main tasks in the game is to find a healer within one week and remove the parasite before it is too late.

On the other hand, in front of us, according to the developers, is an exemplary role-playing game, so no one forbids, instead of looking for a healer, to enjoy transformation and opening abilities. How exactly the transformation into illithid will take place is kept secret by the developers, but it is already known for sure that the body of the protagonist reacts to the larva in an unusual way.

7. New game, new story

If, on the eve of the release of Baldur's Gate 3, you began to think about whether to go through the first parts of the franchise, then here is the answer - definitely worth it, but only in the last place in order to understand the events taking place in the triquel. The game takes place 100 years after the end of Baldur's Gate 2, so you can hardly count on the return of many beloved characters. Of course, the game will have a lot of references “for insiders”, like the mention of Baal and the appearance of Volo in the game, but BG III in any case will be a good entry point for those who are not familiar with either the Forgotten Realms universe or the Baldur's Gate series in particular.

8. Sophisticated partners

In the previous parts of Divinity, the Larian studio was able to create a memorable partner for the main character, who will not only help in the battle, but are always ready to diversify their leisure time with a couple of good stories or a personal quest. In terms of partners, the new Baldur's Gate goes even further, delighting not only with memorable characters (after the first gameplay, we especially note the wizard Gale), but also with the variety of stories associated with them. Moreover, some situations appear in an unexpected way.

For example, you can have an affair with almost all party members, but later it turns out that one of the individuals you love has views on another companion in the squadron and an affair with you - it was just a little love affair for her. It's up to you how to react in a situation like this, but always keep in mind that your actions can have lasting consequences in Baldurs Gate 3.

9. A huge world full of secrets

The desire to create an open world on a gigantic scale and at the same time fill it with a lot of secrets and unique content is like trying to keep up with two birds with one stone. We don't know many games that could combine the two components, but Baldur's Gate 3 marks one of the best of the best. The exact scale of the open world is unknown, but Larian emphasize that it will be huge, and the familiar Baldur's Gates will appear later in the story and will be located hundreds of miles from the starting locations.

Development of locations is also an important aspect, which is given increased attention. For example, on the first stream of the game, a secret tomb was shown, the entrance to which became known to the player only due to the highly pumped "perception" skill. Otherwise, you can easily miss the secret location and never find out about its existence.

10. Non-linear history

Regular stories about "non-linear history and a world that will remember your every action", we hear from the mouths of the developers of every second role-playing game. Of course, Larian did not escape such phrases, prompting them to buy Baldur's Gate 3 at the expense of the promise of an unprecedented level of freedom and non-linear history. And one could have reacted with a grin to such a statement, if not for Divinity: Original Sin 2, which proved that the studio can create variable mechanics and non-linear history, offering several ways to solve many, even the most trivial problems.

Given the significantly increased budget and the enthusiasm with which Svene Winke studio is approaching the creation of the game, we can really count on the fact that in terms of the branching of the story, the new Baldur's Gate will be at least as good as the Divinity: Original Sin dilogy.

Baldur's Gate 3 has a release date set for this year exclusively on PC and Stadia through Early Access. A full release, apparently, should be expected in 2021. We also remind you that in addition to the Larian game, a lot of other wonderful role-playing projects await us in 2020, and we talked about the most anticipated of them in a separate article.

The Topic of Article: Delightful Baldurs Gate 3 - 10 Things You Should Know About The Game.
Author: Jake Pinkman