If you’re like me and you love playing RPGs like Dragon Age and The Elder Scrolls, and you’re looking for the next, most definitive roleplaying experience, then you should immediately turn your attention to Baldur’s Gate 3, an early access RPG that’s currently in development at Larian Studios—the Belgium-based studio that’s best known for developing the fantastic Divinity role-playing games.
Now, traditional tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons provide the best way to enjoy roleplaying game genre with their deep character systems and rich storytelling. But, if you’re not a fan of tabletop games or don’t have time to sit down and play a full campaign of D&D, but still want to experience an epic fantasy RPG centred on player choice, then Baldur’s Gate 3 might be for you.
Having experienced the early access content of Baldur's Gate 3, I am confident that this will be one of the most definitive Dungeons & Dragons experiences ever created. Interested in finding out why? Stay tuned as I explore many reasons why Baldur's Gate 3 will be one of the best RPGs ever made when it releases properly.
First of all, what is Baldur’s Gate, and how does it compare to Dragon Age?
I’ll give you one clue about which studio developed the first Baldur’s Gate in 1998—I can’t stop talking about them on this channel—that’s right, the first Baldur’s Gate was developed by BioWare, and also, Black Isle Studios - the devs who created the original Fallout games.
Baldur’s Gate is the culmination of a long-running series that has changed the face of RPGs. It’s also a culmination of what many consider to be BioWare’s finest work. The Canadian studio set the bar high with Baldur’s Gate and kept raising it with Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
Upon the original Baldur’s Gate’s release, the game sold more than two million copies, breathing new life and colour into the genre--and holding up as one of BioWare and Black Isle Studios' most acclaimed classics still today.
24 years later, here we are with a third entry helmed by one of the best role-playing game developers at the moment, Larian Studios. Currently, Baldur's Gate 3 is a very ambitious project that has been in development since 2017, the project launched on Steam early access in 2020, with an expected full release date in 2023.
While many modern-day role-playing games like Dragon Age, Pillars of Eternity and KOTOR take numerous pages from traditional tabletop Dungeons & Dragons like gameplay mechanics, worlds, lore, characters, RNG systems, character creation, etc. The Baldur's Gate series is actually set in the original world of Dungeons & Dragons - the Forgotten Realms campaign setting to be precise.
Unlike the aforementioned games, Baldur’s Gate adheres as close as virtually possible to following the hefty rule books of Dungeons & Dragons, which, if you didn’t know, is abundant with its lore, systems, features and mechanics. As you can imagine, creating a video game based on the entirety of the DND rulebook is no small feat for a dev team. Yet, if there’s any team that can accomplish this goal, it’s Larian Studios.
So, getting into my experiences with early access, as a preface, when I say that Baldur’s Gate 3 has the same spirit as a BioWare game even though it's being developed by Larian Studios, the heavy RPG foundations of the series were built by BioWare. The innovations and leaps Larian are making are, in some part, thanks to BioWare’s efforts back in the late 90s.
Who is the main character, and what’s the character customisation like?
In early access, you can create your own custom character with many amazing different features and options. When the full game is released, you’ll be able to play as one of the origin characters who you recruit into your party, very much like Divinity 2, allowing you to have a preset character with their own, more established backstory and involved narrative.
Even if origin characters were available in early access, I’d still choose to create my own character. At the moment, there are eight races you can currently choose between elf, tiefling, drow, human, githyanki, dwarf, half-elf or halfling with many subraces to select. half-orcs, gnomes, and dragonborn will also be options at launch.
Regarding classes, there are nine classes to choose between cleric, fighter, ranger, rogue, warlock, wizard, druid, sorcerer, and the most recently added barbarian. Senior Writer Adam Smith told PC Gamer, "The stories are very much tied to class at times. Class is such a part of identity in D&D, in a way that it wasn't in DOS2." Larian have said that in the full release of BG3 we'll be able to play as any class from the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition ruleset. That means bard, monk and paladin classes are yet to be added. And honestly, when bard class is, I will freak out. I cannot wait to create funky fresh bard OC.
Whenever I play an RPG for the first time, I thoroughly enjoy playing as a close reflection of myself, self-inserting as I embark on this new journey blind. And that’s exactly what I did with Baldur’s Gate 3. I created Jackete Bogaerde, a human Eldritch Knight with a Noble background and a strong sense of justice. He is essentially me with muscles and facial hair.
The character creation as a whole is amazing, I must state that there are so many fantastic options available for your character from massive horns to elegant and beautiful hairstyles, you have no excuse to be boring like me, the character creator is immense and one of the best systems I’ve seen in games so far. I just like starting games by self-inserting because I’m weird and I’ll be doing that with Dragon Age 4 too.
To compensate, I did create a Drow Druid by the name of Phondasia. And immediately with this new playthrough, I got a brain companion that I didn’t get in my first playthrough because of her better dexterity throws, showcasing that you can have many different unique experiences depending on the character you build up.
You also create a significant love interest for your character after you've finished creating your own main hero, and I love how much this ties into the narrative. It’s such an interesting dynamic.
Your hero’s HUB is a campsite exactly like Dragon Age: Origins. Everyone has tents, there’s an adorable dog you can rescue, and you can have midnight conversations with your party. You can rest up and gain your health and boost back after a long rest. It offers a nice time to sit back and relax after exploring or heavy combat sections. There are also certain story events that happen here too like a demon visiting you for a deal.
What’s the Story like?
The story is the most important aspect of any game. It's what keeps you coming back and it's what makes you stay interested in a world. Baldur's Gate 3 is no different.
As spoiler-free as possible, the initial story follows our hero inflicted with the tadpole of a Mindflayer that will eventually transform our hero into a full-fledged Mindflayer if they don’t do something about that. However, there’s something strange about your party’s process, in particular, normally, a person would’ve turned into a mindflayer rather quickly, but for reasons unknown, this process is delayed for you and your party. As you progress through the story, your character gains access to more abilities which allow them to interact with their environment in different ways.
Essentially the narrative follows you looking for a cure by any means. Because of this rush, there’s a sense of urgency that plays into the plot, depending on your character's desperation, you could find yourself striking up deals with some shady figures in order to try and save yourself. This story provides many morally ambiguous notions for you and your companions.
There are many different choices and consequences. I saved a goblin leader and was given entry to their camp, even though they’re posed as one of the main threats of the first act. I could also kill her, but then I would be shunned by all goblins and have no allies on that side of town. There are plenty of other quests available as well: some are more combat-focused while others encourage exploration or diplomacy.
And while there is a story to follow through this chapter, you can go off on your own at any time if you so choose. There are no rails here; you can explore freely without having to worry about missing out on something important later on in the game. This is especially nice when playing with friends who may not want to follow along with what you have planned for them — they can do their own thing instead, as the game does support up to four-player coop multiplayer.
Baldur's Gate 3 is already a huge game. It has a lot to offer and it is presented in such a way that it feels like an adventure. But of course, like most RPGs, the story is held by its cast of characters. The characters throughout are voiced by some very talented actors, which gives Baldur's Gate 3 a very immersive feel. There are so many great, fun and interesting characters you can talk to. I spent so much time meeting and conversing with many characters and found so much fun doing that!
I fell in love with Shadowheart instantly. I love her. She’s a High Half-Elf Cleric, and she’s fantastic. She’s funny, she’s sweet, and she’s tough as nails when she needs to be. And she has a dark side that sometimes comes out… Each of the companions who join your journey are connected by the tadpoles in their heads, which in turn makes the main narrative more imperative as you and your companions want to work towards the same goal, despite everyone’s differences.
Because of that shared connection, you can attempt to read your party’s thoughts at given moments. Sometimes in pivotal moments, you can sense their feelings. For instance, I was in a Goblin camp and they were looking for a weapon that Shadowheart had. I could feel her anxiety and I was able to act accordingly.
Connecting to that, one of the most enjoyable, recognisable features of Baldur’s Gate 3 that I started to obsess over is the character’s approval system. Just like Dragon Age, as you go along your journey and make decisions about how people should be treated or what you think about them, your party members will react with either positive or negative responses towards you. These can change depending on the situation and how often you show good or bad behaviour towards them.
Companions will often have things to say on your journey, they may speak up in conversational scenes, or they may want to speak to you after an event or entering a new location.
I was in a cave about looting a treasure chest next to a religious statue when Shadowheart told me I shouldn’t do that. I had to persuade her, otherwise, she would disapprove. And if she disapproved, I’d have to reload my save and try again until she’s happy. If I didn’t care so much about Shadowheart’s approval, I would’ve finished this playthrough and would’ve released this video a lot sooner, but because I cared so much about her slight disapproval in convos, I was always reloading a prev quick save.
Which then ties into the next major feature, the romance system. As you’d expect, you can romance each of the companions who join your journey. I started Shadowheart’s romance in early access, and why it's not complete, I fell in love with it from the get-go. It’s so cute and romantic, I remembered something Shadowheart told me in the past through branching dialogue and she noticed that I remembered that - it made me feel special. I can’t wait to continue that in the full game’s release.
Finally, how does the Gameplay feel, what about Combat and Exploration?
You will find yourself immersed in a world where you can explore dungeons full of dangerous creatures, solve puzzles to unlock treasure chests, wield powerful weapons against enemies, and even cast spells to defeat your foes. The world reacts to you. Baldur’s Gate 3 is dynamic and changes based on y our actions. You can make a difference in the world. You will be able to speak with people, explore the many side quests, and help or hinder the different factions in this game. The fate of this new adventure is up to you!
In terms of gameplay mechanics, Baldur's Gate 3 plays very similarly to Divinity: Original Sin 2 in that there's a lot of freedom given when exploring the world or choosing how you want to solve problems The combat is much faster than Divinity though, with party members moving around the battlefield with ease and attacking enemies with skill checks. This makes combat feel rewarding and fun.
The game has a lot of different classes and races to choose from, each of which have their own unique abilities that help distinguish them from the others. There are also different ways to upgrade your characters through skills trees, so there's always room for personalisation.
You can use perks, scrolls or companion spells to boost your rolls or gain the advantage, etc. I got a soul coin that inspired my character because of his noble background, this gained inspiration which is a perk that lets you reroll for a select amount of times. Thanks to perks I and my companions had, I was able to buff my rolls, especially in diplomatic situations.
It really is the sort of game where you want to interact with everything, for example, I followed a squirrel and because I had the Animal Handling perk, I could talk to it. I made a goblin kiss my foot and I convinced three ogres to help me win a fight. I had so many emergent and immersive experiences that truly defined my first playthrough.
Outro:
The first act of Baldur's Gate 3 is a twenty-hour self-contained story that acts as an introduction to the world, the characters and their relationships. The early access content acts as an embellished demo/tutorial for this game’s potential when it releases fully next year.
While I can understand why you may want to pass on the early access for the moment, as the game is still in development, I insist that you do not sleep on this game when it releases. As fans of Dragon Age and BioWare games, this is right up your street, you will fall in love with Baldur’s Gate 3 just as I have.
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