Baldur’s Gate 3is an upcoming party-based RPG based in the Forgotten Realms, bringingtheBaldur’s Gateseriesback to life. Larian Studios, creator of theDivinityseries, has made several gameplay changes compared to the first twoBaldur’s Gategames. Players can play solo with three AI companions, or online with three co-op partners.
Unlike previous titles,Baldur’s Gate 3uses a turn-based combat system. This takes away the “real-time with pauses” style that the first twoBaldur’s Gategames popularized, and aligns the third iteration more closely to classicDungeons & Dragonsgameplay. Players have three styles to choose from: the good path, the bad path, and the gray ones in-between.
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In October 2020, Larian releasedBaldur’s Gate 3into Steam’s Early Access program. Those who purchase the game in Early Access can play through Act 1 with approximately 25 hours of content, its story revolving around the player’s escape from the crutches of the squid-faced Mind Flayers while searching out a cure for the parasite implanted in their head. Players can also involve themselves with community feedback, which has played a significant role throughout development. Larian Studios consistently acknowledges this, especially with major updates seen in Early Access so far.
How Baldur’s Gate 3 Has Changed So Far
SinceBaldur’s Gate 3launched in Early Access, Larian has made many changes. While a majority of the game’s updates have been hotfixes, squashing a plethora of bugs, there have been seven massive patches that have changedBaldur’s Gate 3significantly.
When the game first launched, players could create their ideal fantasy selves from the nine races available, with more on the way. At first, players could only choose from six classes: cleric, fighter, ranger, rogue, warlock, and wizard. Since then, three more player classes have been released: druid, sorcerer, andmost recently, the barbarian class. Compared to 2020,Baldur’s Gate 3now has more gameplay variety.
One of the biggest changes made toBaldur’s Gate 3during its Early Access run came to tutorials, which now make a lot more sense according to its current flow. Since the firstBaldur’s Gate 3patch, there has also been a constant stream of dialogue changes. There have been many fixes to repeated dialogues, illogical character responses, and a plethora of new lines added since 2020. Besides dialogue, taking the pacifist route when faced with game-changing decisions will also now be rewarded, unlike Larian’sDivinitygames. Patch 5 provided players with non-lethal combat options to supplement the pacifist style.
UI elements of the game have also gone through huge changes, with the latest Patch 7 giving everything an overhaul. The HUD UI, Hotbar, Character Sheet, and Party Panel look very different from previous versions. The developer has also updated its minimap to a more classic, circular shape rather than square.
Baldur’s Gate 3has also changed up its RNG system. Back in Patch 4,Baldur’s Gateadded a loaded dice option, which provided players with a more balanced roll system. With the option turned on, players no longer have their luck perceived as overly bad or good. In Patch 5, Larian introduced the “active roll” system, allowing players to actively influence their roll using character spells and abilities. The “background inspiration point system” was introduced, which meant if players built their characters to be more aligned with their background inspiration, the game would reward them with a roll advantage.
The most controversial change made toBaldur’s Gate 3was the “camp resources” system, which meant that players could no longer freely make camp to “long-rest” their party, instead introducing the requirement that the party needs enough resources before doing so. The introduction of this system toBaldur’s Gate 3created a distinction between “short-rest” and “long-rest,” preventing players from spamming the long-rest option after combat encounters. Despite earlier hints thatBaldur’s Gate 3would only be in Early Access for a year, it doesn’t seem like the full game will be released in 2022. Instead, Larian believes that it should be finished andreleased by the end of 2023, so time will tell what other changes come before then.
Baldur’s Gate 3is currently in Early Access on Steam, and is slated to be fully released in 2023.
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