It’s been a long time since we have been back to the Sword Coast - and things have changed since you and I were last there.
An ancient evil is stirring in the city of Baldur's Gate and it’s not quite the place you once knew; 100 years have passed and something malevolent lurks within.
The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons series began with Baldur's Gate back in 1998 developed by Black Isle Studios.
Set in the Forgotten Realms, the game bought the rich storytelling, fantastical world and detailed mechanics of tabletop Dungeons and Dragons to the PC, and RPGs were never the same again.
This was followed up by Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn in 2000. The sequel developed the combat, character interaction and dialogue.
Baldur's Gate 2 received much critical acclaim, now widely considered as one of the top role playing games of all time.
But as titles like Dragon Age and Mass Effect began to move to a more visual led approach, text-led dialogue driven top down RPGs began to dwindle.
However, the old school style has made a triumphant resurgence of late with the likes of Disco Elysium, Divinity Original Sin, Tides of Numenera.
These prove that this genre is far from the withered corpse we all feared it to be and its heart still beats.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the upcoming Baldur's Gate 3 from Larian Studios , creators of the acclaimed Divinity series of role playing adventures.
With the recent teaser trailer released back in January we see the horrifying effects of Ceremorphosis, which is the process of being forcibly transformed into one of D&D’s most feared and mysterious foes the Mindflayer.
Mindflayers central to the plot of this instalment. They are the mysterious Cthulhu-esque monsters that use powerful magic and telepathy as well as a living flying ship called a Nautaloid to capture victims.
Baldur's Gate 3’s rules system is based upon the 5th edition of the D&D rule set.
At first glance I thought I was looking at Divinity: Original Sin 2 as they do look similar and Baldur's Gate 3 is built using the Divinity engine. However very soon I began to notice that this was a very different animal, with far more detail and fluid animations even in its early alpha state.
While you can play with a top down view like Divinity there is also a third-person option, which looks really impressive as well as a kill cam which adds to that feeling of triumph after a particularly difficult battle.
This makes it more cinematic than previous BG entries and more reminiscent of The Witcher 3 and Dragon Age. Some brilliant motion capture adds subtlety to character interactions that wasn’t possible before.
It was glorious seeing Baldur's Gate come to life in full 3D instead of the classic painted backgrounds and sprites of the originals and made me very excited to play the game.
Combat is turn-based with chance to hit based on dice rolls, and damage is based on your character's stats and equipment.
These rolls are also used in dialogue and when exploring to determine your success in actions like lying to a team mate or noticing things others would miss.
Everything looks far more tactical than the original BG’s click-and-wait approach to combat. The more strategic combat elements from Divinity have been applied to Baldur’s Gate like bonuses to hit when attacking from height.
You can use environmental hazards to help you out too, like casting a fire spell while characters are standing in water to create steam which makes you harder to hit. Or more dramatically igniting foes who are foolish enough to wade through oil to attack your team.
You really need to think carefully before entering a fight and use all your characters skills and unique abilities to help tip the scales in your favour.
Even co-founder of Larian Studios Sven Vincke died more than once during the preview event to due bad luck with dice rolls and barging into combat unprepared.
Magic works much more like the classic D&D experience, with spells having a finite number of charges that are replenished when you rest at camp.
Like a good real world D&D game, BG 3 promotes unconventional problem solving. You can knock foes off ledges or stack objects to reach hidden areas and items, which really opens up the possibilties.
If you are desperate you can even throw items from your inventory like your last pair of boots in a frenzied attack, but this isn’t silly move, as the game makes calculations and modifiers based on your stats (you will have to go pick them back up later).
You also need to be aware of your alignment as party members can be upset by some of your actions and have their own agenda, with good characters taking offence to some of your more evil actions or recruitment of less-than-savoury characters.
Larian’s experience with the core dice rolling classic and the previous entries in the game series clearly shines through, with fantastic attention to detail in every gameplay aspect and reference.
Like a strange new mutant, it combines a satisfying blend of fresh elements and advancements in role playing with what made the classic tabletop experience great. I think it’s safe to say that Baldur's Gate 3 is in very safe, purple, taloned hands.
I for one eagerly await my return to Baldur's Gate.
