Baldur's Gate 3 still sounds exciting

 Not long now

Here we come upon the home stretch of the very long wait for Baldur's Gate 3; Larian's swansong culmination of everything the company has been working towards during its decades in operation; a classic RPG game set to push the bar of the genre further than it has ever been to the kind of heights that, assuming everything goes to plan, probably won't be matched for at least another 10 years. Rather than the typical trade-up between depth or cinematic scope that every RPG has had to decide between up until now, Baldur's Gate 3 dedicates its every effort to the pursuit of being the best of all worlds. Providing sweeping scope, replayability, gameplay depth, cinematic aplomb, set piece glory and quality voice acting. They aim to be the best of all worlds. And now that we've received our final preview event detailing practically everything the game will offer at launch, we can reflect on how it's all set to come together.

Firstly, we have a new final origin character to round out that act 1 rooster. Origin Characters, of course, being those existing characters who can be picked and played as the main character in order to enjoy a tailor made narrative experience specific to them, or if they're not picked each origin character will end up being companions that a custom main character can recruit on their own journey. The last of the cast is going to be exactly who we all assumed it would be, the curious Tiefling lady who we can find being hunted in Early Access and who's life is very much in our hands during what amounts to little more than a side quest. Her unique design and interesting backstory will mark another origin perspective for what might turn out to be the only all-good character of the base party. Apt considering one of the key issues of contention within the community has been the lack of 'all good' characters to interact with in the manner that earlier Baldur's Gate games boasted. (I've even heard some refer to the new cast as 'edgy' but... well I think there's a bit of fallacy entering some people's perspective in finding what they're hoping to find in characters that are just designed to be narratively rich and not one-note.)

But if we're being honest the real interesting stand-out inclusion to character creation was The Dark Urge, a unique take on the concept of an origin character. The Dark Urge is a custom designed character afflicted with a unique narrative tinge wherein violent and evil urges harass the player and unique interactions unlock bursts of violent offshoots. Like tearing off Gale's hand when it see it reaching out of a portal, or kicking a squirrel into a nearby rock. Exploring these violent urges will unfurl into an investigation of a one's self and the dark urges that lie in the heart of all people- although given the setting I think we can all pretty much deduce that in this instance the urge relates to the dark lord Bhaal in some fashion as similar narrative twists are present in BG 2. I'm all about playing custom characters and telling my own story so this is a clever way of providing an alternative play experience to even players like myself, tantalising enough to make me wonder about if I'm going to give a 'Dark Urge' character a shot for my first playthrough.

Reactivity has been another huge topic for Baldur's Gate 3, whereupon not only is the player given a lot of potential to choose what direction they want to take their story, but the world reacts to the choices they make in order to make that choice worthwhile. A big aspect of that is tied in the way the game recognises your identity, making the character creation process part of the storytelling process by having your race and class significant in gameplay. Face suspicions for your Tiefling heritage, shrug off a potential hazard with your sorcerer talents, etc. Larian are obsessed with making this AAA RPG feel just as open and vast as a the most complex CRPGs out there and if that means dozens upon dozens of line variations in order to account for every potential major choice and sub-decision it's possible to make on a single questline, with every line being voiced, they'll burying themselves on that lofty spear.

And one fun little step on that road has been the realisation of the in-world newspaper, a fun way for games to react to the way you've influenced the world since the beginning of immersive gaming. I still remember collecting ingame newspapers in Red Dead Redemption 1 and seeing how the world around me was progressing, or relishing in my after-action reports presented in the form of newspaper clippings at the end of every 'Hitman: Blood Money' level. Neither games presented quite a level of complex iteration that Baldur's Gate 3 promises, however, and I wonder how deeply we'll be able to influence the composition of these articles throughout the game as our stories blossom. Maybe we'll end up in a position similar to how the Radio DJs in Fallout works, where our moral decisions effect the way our story is recounted to the masses. (Maybe we'll even get to meet the editor of the newspaper to put a face to the person writing of our deeds.)

To my surprise one of the biggest reoccurring topics in that final stream was that of Romance and Baldur's Gate's approach to it. I guess they figured themselves safe enough to dedicate some effort here because Larian have put more than the slightest amount of effort towards making these romance substories function. Lairan talked a great game about how they made romance feel natural in the way that it starts and evolves throughout the main narrative, so that it's deeper than just smoozing a character until they go to bed with you or just as surface-level as that if that's what you're looking for. Your companions can change the way they see the world and react to events depending on how they're influenced by your actions, and challenging their beliefs can help shape who they'll become alongside you.

Of course, the big take away that has blossomed far beyond the confines of the Baldur's Gate enthusiasts has been the revelation that you can have it off with a bear. Yes, one interaction pits the player with Halsin in a romantic scene that, should you pick a specific procession of choices, has you engage with the Druid in his bear form, an act so lascivious is shatters the innocence of a watching squirrel. That clip alone has become BG3's last rallying cry to the public in the month before the game launches, no doubt igniting imagination and curiosity the industry over. Can't wait for some journalist to pen some bashing article about 'promoting animal abuse'; oh it's coming, just you wait and see! As for the rest of us, I find it a curious proclamation to the bizarre creative lengths the game is willing to stretch.

Baldur's Gate 3 is less than a month for launch at this point and we've reached the point where exaltation can run wild. Expectation can soar and the 'do or die' moment for Larian can erupt. Some have grumbled about the early access length of the game, as if Larian aren't a company who have consistently made good on their promises to deliver on those full games, and as if BG3 isn't one of the most ambitious RPGs of all time. I, however, am excited to see how the collaborative development of BG3 with feedback from an avid audience of fans, has tuned this product to be the best it possibly can be. I choose to be the optimist and believe we're looking at the launch of one of the most genre defining games of the decade in the next month, and that's around 4 weeks before Starfield drops as well. Award season is going to be a battle between this, Starfield, Final Fantasy XVI, RE4, Tears of the Kingdom... wow, this may be the first year in a long time totally lacking a shoe-in entry.