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Baldur's Gate III: One Year Later - Larian reflects on the past and looks forward to its future, update (08/13): now a Hugo Award winner

Commissar SFLUFAN
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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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It's early July, almost a year since Larian launched Baldur's Gate 3—a year in which the studio has collected a vast number of awards and accolades for its monumental RPG—and the team has swapped the Forgotten Realms for the swelteringly hot Spanish city of Barcelona. Larian is here to discuss its next game behind closed doors. A couple of days ago, on July 8, it held a summit to talk about kicking off a new RPG. "Lift off," as CEO Swen Vincke puts it. 

 

There's the crackle of electricity in the air, not because a dragonborn sorcerer has just cast chain lightning, but because the team is about to set off on a brand new adventure. Larian's developers are now spread all over, including Dublin, Ghent, Warsaw, and here in Barcelona, where so many of them have gathered. Much of the excitement, then, is also down to a lot of them being in one place, rather than distributed across the world.

 

It wasn't all that long ago that Larian was comparatively tiny. "These are guesstimates," says Vincke, "but I think that Divinity: Original Sin 1 must have been around 40 people, and then Divinity: Original Sin 2 was around 120-ish. And now we're approaching 500." The new Warsaw studio has added a chunk, and Vincke says that it's "beefed up" QA, adding more internal playtesters to prepare for what's coming next.

 

So what is coming next? Well, that's a secret that Larian's not quite ready to share. Chatting to members of the studio following the summit, however, reveals a lot, from hints about the scope of its next two projects to why exactly the team stopped working on what was shaping up to become Baldur's Gate 4.

 

 

Larian has also launched a new YouTube channel dedicated to their "From Hell" behind-the-scenes videos, livestreams, etc:

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Baldur's Gate III: One Year Later - Larian reflects on the past and looks forward to its future
CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

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Just got back into it for an evil playthrough (well, not totally evil, I am still being kind to animals and children), and am almost about to take on the brain. Already itching to do another run, this time with an all-magic team! Current party is:

  • TAV - Swords Bard/Rogue/Fighter - basically a charismatic slasher
  • Shadowheart - Oathbreaker Paladin/Cleric - multi-attack smite machine that can control dead
  • Minthara - Shadow Monk/Rogue - teleports from shadow to shadow, stunning and striking enemies
  • Astarion - Necromancer supreme - became the top vampire lord as well as necromancy of thay, controlling 6-10 undead in each encounter

Only minor issue has been equipping both my slasher and shadow monk, as they both need to dual-wield knives/shortswords, but it's worked out pretty well. Next playthrough I intend to do something like:

  • TAV - Sorcerer
  • ? - Lightning/Thunder wizard
  • ? - Fire wizard
  • ? - Either ice wizard, or maybe a melee-range wizard of some kind

Will be harder to fully equip an all-caster team, but as long as I stick to different elements, it should be doable. 

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SaysWho?

SaysWho?

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34 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

Still such a shame that the relationship here has been so bungled that we'll get no DLC or sequel.

 

I thought they said they just didn't want to spend more years in the same kind of world.

 

Plus, it's a massive game with so much variation that, as a dude in the last act of the game, there's plenty more I have to see within the base game. I honestly don't want DLC for it.

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Kal-El814

Kal-El814

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4 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

I thought they said they just didn't want to spend more years in the same kind of world.

 

Plus, it's a massive game with so much variation that, as a dude in the last act of the game, there's plenty more I have to see within the base game. I honestly don't want DLC for it.

 

There's an absolute ton of content in the game so it's not like it feels lacking or incomplete broadly. But there are absolutely some things that feel like they're left dangling a bit and a couple character arcs specifically that end up feeling rushed or "less finished" than others and it's easy to see where those things could be fleshed out. All high class problems.

 

And who knows whether or not Larian would want to stick around if all of the Hasbro / WotC / DnD bullshit wasn't in play. Larian's been diplomatic about it but it seems unlikely that the weight of that didn't tilt the scale at all.

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Dawnguard2001

Dawnguard2001

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Seeing these stats just make me sad that we will not get any DLC for the game.  

 

I finally got around to starting an evil play through and siding with the goblins and Minthara.  It is awfully lonely back at camp, but I do have the owlbear and Scratch.  No matter how evil I am I will always take care of my two favorite animals.

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Massdriver

Massdriver

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I plan to go back for an evil play through eventually. I had planned to play my firt playthrough evil but changed my mind when I heard there isn't as much content. 

 

I'm very curious to see what they're making next. I hope it is isometric and they stick with fantasy and don't go into sci fi apocalypse.

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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The awards just keep on coming!

 

SfMemkLjXbmrMPFTGEuYTF-1200-80.jpg

 

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You would think that more than a year after going into full release, Baldur's Gate 3 would have finally stopped winning awards. And you would be wrong. On top of all the other gold Larian's epic RPG has claimed over the past 12 months, it has now added a Hugo Award, the most prestigious award in science fiction and fantasy literature, for Best Game or Interactive Work.

 

First presented in 1953, the Hugo Awards are voted on by the World Science Fiction Convention to recognize excellence across a range of categories, including Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Short Story, and numerous others. 

 

A special videogame category was added in 2021 to recognize the increased impact of videogames amidst the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was a one-off: No game-related Hugo was awarded in 2022 or '23.

 

In 2023, however, Worldcon voted to make the Best Game or Interactive Work a permanent category for 2024—wouldn't you know it, just in time for the Baldur's Gate 3 behemoth to smash through the walls like the Kool-Aid Man and run off with it. BG3 beat out Alan Wake 2 (yet again), Chants of Senaar, Dredge, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for the big prize.

 

 

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SaysWho?

SaysWho?

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On 8/11/2024 at 11:29 AM, CitizenVectron said:

Finally completed the game (after 289.6 hours of various playthroughs :p ) with my mostly-evil party

 

SwNaVDt.jpeg

 

One thing I can't wait for (with mods) is that ability to control your appearance a bit more. The dyes in the game are okay, but I want more control!

 

......who's that on the right?

 

I'm RIGHT before the Elder Brain mission and I can't put my finger on her.

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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Baldur's Gate 3 Is Getting New Evil Ending Cinematics

WWW.THEGAMER.COM
Patch 7 promises evil ending cinematics for those who don't want a happily ever after.

 

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Larian Studios has announced new evil ending cinematics for Baldur's Gate 3, arriving with Patch 7.

 

"If you decided happily ever after wasn't for you, there's an assortment of evil ending cinematics new to Baldur's Gate 3, arriving with Patch 7. Here's another sneak peek! Beware, some spoilers ahead!" Larian's post reads.

 

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CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

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1 hour ago, SaysWho? said:

 

......who's that on the right?

 

I'm RIGHT before the Elder Brain mission and I can't put my finger on her.

 

That's Minthara! She's the Drow leader of the Goblins in Act 1. You can recruit her and romance her on evil or good playthroughs (though it's trickier on good).

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SaysWho?

SaysWho?

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4 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

That's Minthara! She's the Drow leader of the Goblins in Act 1. You can recruit her and romance her on evil or good playthroughs (though it's trickier on good).

 

Ahhhhh! Okay, yeah I remember now. I remember thinking it was crazy that you could do stuff for her instead of helping the folks at the grove. I had no idea she would end up being a party member for you as well.

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CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

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6 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Ahhhhh! Okay, yeah I remember now. I remember thinking it was crazy that you could do stuff for her instead of helping the folks at the grove. I had no idea she would end up being a party member for you as well.

 

In my case I saved the grove in order to romance Shadowheart, but I knocked out Minthara in the camp so that she missed the big battle. Then she shows up in Act 2 in Moonrise Tower, and you save and recruit her. She has great dialogue and quips in Act 3. 

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SaysWho?

SaysWho?

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2 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

In my case I saved the grove in order to romance Shadowheart, but I knocked out Minthara in the camp so that she missed the big battle. Then she shows up in Act 2 in Moonrise Tower, and you save and recruit her. She has great dialogue and quips in Act 3. 

 

You can't romance her without saving the grove? I didn't know that. She was also my romance for this playthrough.

 

Another thing I found cool about the goblins/grove thing was 

Spoiler

Halsin being a bear. I remember seeing the goblins harass the bear, and the game gives you a choice of who to help and then I think only a few choice options to make a determination. I thought, "Yeah fuck that, stop messing with the bear." Then I thought it was cool that the bear didn't attack me. Then you find out it's Halsin. I'm like, "wtf I could have killed Halsin or let them kill Halsin?!?!" I don't know if leaving bear-Halsin there leads to his death or not or if he breaks out anyway, but it was very interesting to me that I had no idea I was recruiting Halsin by protecting the bear; it just seemed like the right thing to do.

 

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CitizenVectron

CitizenVectron

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14 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

You can't romance her without saving the grove? I didn't know that. She was also my romance for this playthrough.

 

Another thing I found cool about the goblins/grove thing was 

  Hide contents

Halsin being a bear. I remember seeing the goblins harass the bear, and the game gives you a choice of who to help and then I think only a few choice options to make a determination. I thought, "Yeah fuck that, stop messing with the bear." Then I thought it was cool that the bear didn't attack me. Then you find out it's Halsin. I'm like, "wtf I could have killed Halsin or let them kill Halsin?!?!" I don't know if leaving bear-Halsin there leads to his death or not or if he breaks out anyway, but it was very interesting to me that I had no idea I was recruiting Halsin by protecting the bear; it just seemed like the right thing to do.

 

 

I think maybe you still can, but it moves SH's approval down a bit, so harder.

 

Yeah, the Halsin bit was cool on the first playthrough!

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Dawnguard2001

Dawnguard2001

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15 hours ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

I think maybe you still can, but it moves SH's approval down a bit, so harder.

 

Yeah, the Halsin bit was cool on the first playthrough!


There are plenty of other opportunities to get her approval up throughout Act 1 to get her to ask about sharing a bottle with her at the after party. It is most certainly easier to get Astarian and Lazaro after you going the more evil route. 
 

In my evil play through I still was a lover of animals so I freed Halsin and that was a mistake.

 

Spoiler

After raiding the grove he comes to your camp for revenge and he ended up killing Scratch with call lightning. The one time I actually reloaded as nobody kills my good boy.

 

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SaysWho?

SaysWho?

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So I just finished the game. These were the end game choices I made. How'd you guys do?

 

Spoiler

I had Lae'zul in my party and wanted to use her for the final battle, so I told the Emperor not to kill Orpheus.
I had Orpheus become a Mindflayer, which helped me when I encountered Voss.
I told Gale not to sacrifice himself.
I killed the Emperor and tamed the brain and did not betray Orpheus.
I used persuasion on Orpheus and didn't kill him.

Astarion was burning up under the sun and had to leave.

Karlach burned up. I really loved this character and hope to play again and save her.

I told Gale to leave the crown where it is.

 

I'm now at 

 

Spoiler

the part where you see them again at camp, but I had to go to work so I haven't done that yet.

 

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