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'We owe them a huge debt': Baldur's Gate 3 lead writer hopes they did '90s BioWare proud
(www.pcgamer.com)
this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Same IP; returning characters from the original series; revisiting important locations from the original series; uses a D&D ruleset for resolution; expands upon the story of the Bhaalspawn crisis over a century after the incident, especially via the
spoiler
Dark Urge storyline.All of this is apparent through playing the game.
I assume if Larian releases original sin 3 with real time combat but carry over some general story references divinity apostles wouldn't bat an eye.
Yes because mechanical fidelity is the lowest priority in continuing the series. Continuation of the story and tonal fidelity matter a lot more. The Fallout series went from a turn based 2.5D isometric RPG to a real time action RPG, and one of the best instalments in the series follows the latter formula.
To be fair, that one Fallout in the latter installments that best fits the original tone of the 2D games had many of the same people that made the original games, including the original designer and writer. If Obsidian was given another shot, now that those people no longer are at Obsidian, I question how good it would be compared to New Vegas.
Since when has gameplay been relegated to lowest priority when making a sequel to a GAME. I understand now what the original fallout fans must have felt when they were graced by fallout 3 and the masses praised it.
Tone and story are Larian tier, i.e. mediocre, and far removed from the original games. There is no fidelity to what bioware built, just pretence.
Baldur’s Gate is part of a setting several decades older than the game franchise of the same name. It was an official setting of D&D a decade before the first game. In the sense of a ROLEPLAYING game, fidelity to the source material is paramount.
The original games were developed at the end of the life cycle of the edition they used for the mechanics. The ruleset got a major revision the same year BG2 was released. There have been several major editions since. Edition warring aside, no one can argue that the Forgotten Realms played in 5th edition isn’t the same Forgotten Realms played in AD&D 2E. The tone and continued narrative of the setting is the key feature in maintaining the soul of a property, not mechanical fidelity.
The game respects the official canon of the Forgotten Realms, including the canonical ending to BG2 where Gorion’s Ward rejected divinity and eventually led to Bhaal’s revival. Characters from the original series return as companions for BG3, with stories acknowledging the Bhaalspawn crisis. One of the origin playthroughs is the exact same story as the first Baldur’s Gate.
If your only complaint is lack of real time with pause then I reckon it’s you who isn’t the real Baldur’s Gate fan.
Bioware themselves took many liberties with the source material to create their games, not sure wtf you're on about. Larian made a direct sequel to Bioware's Baldurs Gate, the tone was set by Bioware not the source material.
Baldur's Gate is narrative heavy and Larian's writers fell flat on their faces trying to replicate it.
Real time combat was a defining feature of the original games. I was prepared to accept turnbased combat but the game fails in too many other aspects to overlook.