Baldur's Gate III revealed at PAX East
Larian Studios took to the PAX East main stage today to formally unveil gameplay for Baldur's Gate III. Most notably, the game now features a turn-based style of combat unlike the classic Baldur's Gate RPGs, which used a real-time with pause (RTWP) system.
[To view the demo, go to 10:55 in the below video.]
The gameplay shown highlights key components to the game. The main combat camera is isometric, but it's not pulled back as far as is often seen in the classic games and other computer-style RPGs. There's also an option to use a more third-person camera which falls more behind the player character. In-game dialogue is also given using character models moving and speaking rather than classic portraits and text. Additionally, dialogue choices from the player character are not given as verbatim lines, nor are they voiced, but instead work more like narrated descriptions of what you want your character to say at that moment.
Much like the Divinity Original Sin games, you can create custom characters or use an 'Origin' character, which will have their own personal storyline superimposed on top of the standard storyline in Baldur's Gate III. Other Origin characters will join up as your playable party.
Baldur's Gate III is also coming to Steam Early Access later this year. Early Access is something Larian Studios has strongly valued in the past with the Divinity Original Sin games, so it's not much of a surprise to see the studio returning to that avenue as the work to release this title. For the Early Access launch, the races available are: Human, Tielfing, Drow, Githyankli, Dwarf, Half-drow, Elf, Half-elf, & Halfing. The classes available will be wizard, cleric, fighter, ranger, rogue, & warlock. There will also be five Origin characters available.
RPG Site also had a chance to discuss the game's turn-based combat sensibilities in an interview with gameplay designer Matt Holland. Check out our chat to learn about Larian's approach to Dungeons and Dragons with this combat system.
Find a cinematic trailer, game overview, and screenshot set below via Larian Studios.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an entirely next-generation RPG taking place in the Forgotten Realms® setting from Dungeons & Dragons and 20 years in the making. Return to the legendary city of Baldur’s Gate® in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival and the lure of absolute power.
Dark powers are awakening inside you, drawn from a Mind Flayer parasite planted in your mind. Resist, and turn evil against itself. Or embrace corruption, and lay claim to the Forgotten Realms.
FEATURES: A TRULY NEXT-GENERATION EXPERIENCE
- Built using the new Divinity 4.0 engine with AAA production values
- Cinematic dialogs, all performance captured across 1.5 million words
- Unparalleled depth and replayability, whether in single player or multiplayer
- Expanded Attitude System to leave your mark on the world
- Dynamic Music that shifts in tone to the context of a battle, situation, and story
- Layered Crime system that holds you accountable for your actions and affects your reputation
- 4-player online multiplayer and split-screen couch co-op for 2 players
THE MOST AUTHENTIC D&D RPG EVER CREATED
- Hundreds of locations true to the lore, spanning over 100 hours of gameplay.
- Choose from 15 D&D races & subraces and 8 classes with more to be announced
- Build relationships with your companions in your ever-evolving campsite
- Roll the dice to determine your fate in a story with countless permutations
- Speak with the dead to learn new facts and uncover secrets
EVOLVED TURN-BASED COMBAT TRUE TO D&D
- Switch to turn-based mode to solve puzzles or sneak up on characters
- Manipulate light and darkness for non-binary style stealth action
- The next generation of turn-based combat featuring hundreds of D&D spells and actions
- Unlimited freedom to explore and experiment
YOU ARE BURDENED WITH A GREAT POWER DEVOURING YOU FROM WITHIN. HOW FAR DOWN THE PATH OF DARKNESS WILL YOU LET IT TAKE YOU? THE FATE OF THE FORGOTTEN REALMS IS ON YOUR PARTY’S SHOULDERS. WILL YOU CARRY IT TO SALVATION, OR DESCEND WITH IT TO HELL?
We are in the Forgotten Realms, a land of many races and multiple divine beings. We know that the world is in turmoil: armies of evil (gnolls, orcs, duergar, goblins, drow, ...) rampage along the Sword Coast, and refugees swarm to Baldur’s Gate. Amid all this chaos, a new cult is on the rise: the cult of the Absolute. Seeking to overthrow the old order, its shadowy network is chipping away at the Forgotten Realms foundations. Baldur’s Gate itself will be the first to fall. That is where we come in: the players. And we’re off to a very inauspicious start indeed…
Out of nowhere, we were kidnapped by mind flayers. A tadpole was put in our heads. We barely survived the crash landing of a nautiloid, and we find ourselves stranded in the middle of an inhospitable wilderness. We discover we have only a few days to get rid of the parasite inside, or we’ll become mind flayers ourselves. As we desperately seek a cure, we discover the tadpole gives us godlike powers and we find ourselves on the centre stage of a complot hatched by none other than the Dead Three: the gods of Murder, Tyranny, and Death. Our journey will not only take us back to the legendary city of Baldur’s Gate, but through and beyond the Forgotten Realms.
It is a journey of survival: ours, and all of the Forgotten Realms.
