12th July 2023, 8:11 PM
For those who don't know, Belgian studio Larian, the developers of the Divinity series, has been working on a D&D game called Baldur's Gate 3 for several years now. The game is now getting close to completion, it releases next month, so press have gone to see it. The press reaction is quite positive.
As for me, though, it's complicated. I'm sure it will do well and be popular, but I've been skeptical about my interest in it all along and still am for various reasons. On the one hand, I love Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 a lot, but... is this really Baldur's Gate? It sure doesn't seem like it. Is this game a real sequel (from a completely different team), or just some random D&D game using the BG name in order to get attention? I've always assumed the latter and see no reason to think otherwise. Yes, the game is set in the city of Baldur's Gate, but when it comes to computer games the name has certain expectations and I don't see much of a connection.
Also, I know Larian is well thought of, but I haven't played any of their games much. Also I've rarely loved European RPGs, they often feel even jankier than north american ones... Bethesda excepted of course but I don't like their games that much either. I know Larian may be the best european RPG developer though so the should be good as a standalone title... it has been in early access for like two years now. They have had a lot of time to get feedback and improve it. I hope it will be polished beginning to end, we'll see.
As for the gameplay, it looks like the game will feature a very faithful adaptation of the d&d rules, with turn-based combat using fifth edition D&D rules. The problem is, what made BG's engine so good was the pauseable real-time play. BG3 isn't pausable real-time, it's fully turn-based. This makes it more accurate to D&D, but a clearly very inaccurate Baldur's Gate / Infinity Engine game. That's not infinity engine combat! That was one of the first things I heard about the game and as soon as I heard that I basically stopped paying any attention to BG3. The Infinity Engine that was used in BG1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, and Planescape Torment, is my favorite RPG game engine. This game has totally different gameplay. It looks like a good turnbased RPG, but it's clearly not Baldur's Gate. I get wanting accurate D&D rules, but ... call it something else.
Also, the first trailer was ... pretty messed up, wasn't it really gross? it was too much and turned me off from the game. ... Looking it up yeah it was a guy becoming a mindflayer. Why was that your announcement. I hated that trailer, it left me expecting the game to not be something I'd be interested in. The game looks better than that trailer, but it made a bad first impression. The story of this game has absolutely nothing to do with Baldur's Gates 1 or 2, it is entirely new. The first two tell a continuing story, this isn't an episodic series. The characters are also all new. This is not a sequel to Baldur's Gate, it's an entirely different game using its name.
So overall, I would say that I am interested in Baldur's Gate 3 because it's an apparently accurate D&D game, but not at all interested in it because they are using the name of some of the best RPGs ever; that's a drag against it, really. I imagine the name will get them more sales though so I get why they'd use it. Still, the game probably should be named something else. This game should NOT have been released (or about to be released) as Baldur's Gate 3, it should be a game with some other subtitle. Without the gameplay, characters, or story of Baldur's Gate, there's literally nothing connecting this game to the games it is not a sequel to but pretends to be a sequel to other than its name. How obnoxious.
As for me, though, it's complicated. I'm sure it will do well and be popular, but I've been skeptical about my interest in it all along and still am for various reasons. On the one hand, I love Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 a lot, but... is this really Baldur's Gate? It sure doesn't seem like it. Is this game a real sequel (from a completely different team), or just some random D&D game using the BG name in order to get attention? I've always assumed the latter and see no reason to think otherwise. Yes, the game is set in the city of Baldur's Gate, but when it comes to computer games the name has certain expectations and I don't see much of a connection.
Also, I know Larian is well thought of, but I haven't played any of their games much. Also I've rarely loved European RPGs, they often feel even jankier than north american ones... Bethesda excepted of course but I don't like their games that much either. I know Larian may be the best european RPG developer though so the should be good as a standalone title... it has been in early access for like two years now. They have had a lot of time to get feedback and improve it. I hope it will be polished beginning to end, we'll see.
As for the gameplay, it looks like the game will feature a very faithful adaptation of the d&d rules, with turn-based combat using fifth edition D&D rules. The problem is, what made BG's engine so good was the pauseable real-time play. BG3 isn't pausable real-time, it's fully turn-based. This makes it more accurate to D&D, but a clearly very inaccurate Baldur's Gate / Infinity Engine game. That's not infinity engine combat! That was one of the first things I heard about the game and as soon as I heard that I basically stopped paying any attention to BG3. The Infinity Engine that was used in BG1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, and Planescape Torment, is my favorite RPG game engine. This game has totally different gameplay. It looks like a good turnbased RPG, but it's clearly not Baldur's Gate. I get wanting accurate D&D rules, but ... call it something else.
Also, the first trailer was ... pretty messed up, wasn't it really gross? it was too much and turned me off from the game. ... Looking it up yeah it was a guy becoming a mindflayer. Why was that your announcement. I hated that trailer, it left me expecting the game to not be something I'd be interested in. The game looks better than that trailer, but it made a bad first impression. The story of this game has absolutely nothing to do with Baldur's Gates 1 or 2, it is entirely new. The first two tell a continuing story, this isn't an episodic series. The characters are also all new. This is not a sequel to Baldur's Gate, it's an entirely different game using its name.
So overall, I would say that I am interested in Baldur's Gate 3 because it's an apparently accurate D&D game, but not at all interested in it because they are using the name of some of the best RPGs ever; that's a drag against it, really. I imagine the name will get them more sales though so I get why they'd use it. Still, the game probably should be named something else. This game should NOT have been released (or about to be released) as Baldur's Gate 3, it should be a game with some other subtitle. Without the gameplay, characters, or story of Baldur's Gate, there's literally nothing connecting this game to the games it is not a sequel to but pretends to be a sequel to other than its name. How obnoxious.