Back in the more innocent days of 2019, Larian Studios revealed the teaser trailer for Baldur's Gate 3. While the developers made a valiant effort to release the early access version and patches, they haven't been immune to the problems plaguing the industry. Considering that bringing a historic and meaningful franchise back to life is interesting enough, there are plenty of behind-the-scenes stories to unpack here.
RELATED: Baldur's Gate 3's Newest Patch Is Outstanding
Over the last couple of years, the leadership at Larian Studios has shared fascinating details about how they've approached the monumental task of making Baldur's Gate 3. Additionally, some of the peaks behind the curtain continue to shape what it will look like when they unleash the full version onto the world. If you want an in-depth look into how the past continues to shape this historic game, discover the details we've unearthed below.
10 Level 20 Is Up For Debate
A character levels up in Baldur's Gate 3
At the time of writing, the cap for leveling in Baldur's Gate 3 is level four. While Larian Studios originally intended to allow characters to reach level ten, going up to 20 is up for debate behind the scenes.
Lead systems designer Nick Pechenin told Rock Paper Shotgun that the difficulty would increase as characters level up. However, the coding challenges and including high-level spells that correspond with tabletop may make this thought a distant memory by the official launch.
9 Focusing On The Core Baldur's Gate Experience
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Cover art for Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Editions on Switch
Defining the core experience for a franchise like Baldur's Gate can be a dangerous game to play. As Senior Writer Adam Smith told IGN in August 2020, asking twenty fans what defines the series can get you twenty different answers.
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As interpreted by Larian Studios, the most significant factor to consider is the relationship with companions and how your decisions shape the world. Unfortunately, we won't be able to grade them on this effort until the full release.
8 Avoiding Exclusivity
A clip from the reveal trailer for Baldur's Gate 3 from the Google Stadia event.
The first reveal of Baldur's Gate 3 occurred during a Stadia Connect conference in June 2019. Revealing the game in this way raised serious questions about it becoming an exclusive on Google's cloud gaming service.
Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke promptly told IGN that there were no plans to make Baldur's Gate 3 exclusive to Stadia. Considering the current pull and tug between Steam and the Epic Games Store, this is one behind-the-scenes decision that should be welcome news.
7 Difficulties With The Druid Class
A druid character from Baldur's Gate 3
In an interview with Destructoid, CEO Swen Vincke asserted that the druid class is the most difficult to get right. As a result, Larian Studios included it to challenge themselves and see how players respond.
The problems with getting the druid class right won't be surprising to seasoned fans of the series. In Baldur's Gate 2, in particular, it's often cited as one of the worst in the game.
6 Changing Plot Based on Player Choices
A player makes a dialogue choice in Baldur's Gate 3
By design, the plot for Baldur's Gate 3 will change dramatically by its full release date. Larian Studios admitted in April 2021 that they're analyzing statistics about crucial aspects like dialogue decisions.
RELATED: Baldur's Gate 3's Next Patch Will Affect Its Story
After reviewing the data, the developers plan to eliminate rarely chosen options. Hopefully, this strategy will pay off when the full release occurs in (fingers crossed) 2022.
5 Pure RNG Controversy
A die-20 dice roll in Baldur's Gate 3
To stay true to its tabletop Dungeons & Dragons roots, Baldur's Gate 3 uses d20 skill checks. Unfortunately, the side effect of this decision is creating significant frustration among early access players.
Larian Studios admitted to IGN in November 2020 that going with "pure RNG" was an experiment of sorts. In response to the growing anger, they added a loaded dice option in a patch in April 2021.
4 Collecting Data About Which Character Dies The Most
Companion characters in Baldur's Gate 3 prep for battle
In its first newsletter in October 2020, Larian Studios revealed which character died the most after its initial release date. At that time, the cleric Shadowheart had the dubious honor of being the one who kicked the proverbial bucket most often.
As one of the first companions in the game and a Trickery Cleric, she often falls victim to players getting used to controlling party members. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues after the completed game reaches the masses.
3 Building On The Baldur's Gate Story
Baldur's Gate 3 stands apart in an age of reboots and ignoring previous entries in a franchise. As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, the latest entry in the series will be a continuation of the story from the first and second games.
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Players have a taste of what this means in early access, but the full intentions remain unclear. Nevertheless, the Larian Studios CEO insists that the third iteration will have meaningful connections beyond a few returning characters.
2 COVID Challenges
Baldur's Gate 3 final cover art on Steam
Larian Games announced that development stalled on Baldur's Gate 3 in April 2020. Thankfully, they did manage to release the early access version on October 6, 2020.
Based on reporting by PC Gamer, the leadership at the Belgium-based developer struggled with communication while working from home. In addition, the pandemic made obtaining crucial motion-capture time difficult to impossible.
1 AI Does The Heavy Lifting For QA
A brain with legs from Baldur's Gate 3
Larian Studios informed gamers in October 2020 that they're using AI to do the more tedious QA work for Baldur's Gate 3. As stated by representatives from the developer, it has proven to be mind-bogglingly fast at finding bugs.
For now, this powerful tool has not replaced QA testers completely. Humans remain necessary to tasks like finding game-breaking ways to get through major plot points.
NEXT: The Things Baldur's Gate 3 Got Right (So Far)
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