Larian of the future

 

As we roll up to the final update for Baldur's Gate 3, it's one year anniversary and the beginning of what I expect to be a long community drip-feed before whatever the company is working on next- I want to postulate briefly on what I consider to be the path forward for 'The Larian of the Future'. What will they do with their newfound reverence as the king of the Western RPG and what does the path they've already walked tell us about the roads they will tread next. Honestly I am fascinated by the image that Larian puts out as a community positive developer who champions everything you want to hear and casts healthy side eye at the pitfulls that have affected all others. Plus they're technically indie, which is an inspiration in of itself.

I first came upon Larian by hearing the vast praise their RPG 'Divinity: Original Sin' received for the way it played on a systematic level, although that wasn't the first time I saw one of their games in the spotlight. That would be the bizarre Divinity 2 which drummed up unfavourable comparisons to the Oblivion in it's style and deliver- as well as some unintentional moments of humour. It was the endless praise that Divinity Original Sin 2 received however (a game I never completed) which finally made me start playing their games. I by 'their games' I literally mean the beginning of the Divinity franchise 'Divine Divinity' which originally launched back in 2002. It is through that experience, then, that I can remark how genuinely special that little gem of an RPG is and stand fully aghast as to why it is not better loved. Honestly- Divine Divinity should be considered a classic.

The game is a gorgeous little isometric RPG that holds shimmers of the kind of uncompromising systematic robustness that would go on to colour nearly everyone of this studios greatest hits. Loving visuals, fun character personalities, a very permissive combat system- Divine Divinity really is the kind of RPG that old school lovers need to look out for. Beyond Divinity, however, can go do one. Comedy is something that Larian always tried to hit but were never quite kinds at, so the fact that Beyond leaned into that, as well as combat and ugly voxel models to ruin the visuals- kind of made Beyond ever bit the forgettable title that most assume Divine should be. As time would go by their humour improved, literally game by game, as did their voice for storytelling- (though I still wouldn't call it 'masterful'- Baldur's Gate 3 lacks in narrative ambition in places.) and, of course, the general wield of the budding technology.

Now I keep mentioning 'Systematic robustness' without explaining myself- and I think understanding where they'll go next is imperative on this point. Basically I'm talking about when Larian make a game with systems that can simulate consistently outside of the direct purview of design in order to fuel player creativity. Like how the elements combine together dynamically in Original Sin to create opportunities to exploit. Or how there exists literally no artificial rules upon special conditions and status effects in Divine Divinity- meaning I literally beat the final boss by casting him with a spell that created two identically powerful shadow clones of himself that turned around and beat him to death- because those were the tools that were provided by the team. They never lost that heart and Baldur's Gate 3 is a testament to that.

One thing we know about Baldur's Gate now is that they were actually considering the follow-up when they instead pivoted to moving on to their next project. Whether we're talking DLC or a whole new game- those details are in contention- Baldur's Gate 3 was, for a time, where the company saw keeping their talents, around the confines of the Table Top Roleplaying world and toolset. From that point a decision was made to leave that behind and go elsewhere- upwards Larian would argue, but we'll have to wait and see to be sure ourselves. But one thing is for certain- we're probably going to be moving away from table-top style gameplay- because I very much doubt it's simply the DnD ruleset that the team wanted a break from, but that style of game entirely. (Which if fair, considering they'd be doing exclusively that for over ten years at this point.)

Now we've seen something similar blossom in Bioware who spent a good many years veering away from the intricate RPG games of their yesteryear and now seem to have lost the very spirit of what makes a party-RPG fun and are instead looking towards action RPGs. Of course, in that pursuit they've managed to attack the old games, gaslight the concerned and make themselves look silly with every proceeding week seeing headlines like: "Dragon Age doesn't have playable companions because they don't think you can take the speed of it." (No one tell this team about Final Fantasy VII Remake- it'll really bum them out...) Maybe it's just wishful thinking but I'd like to think that Larian aren't going to completely abandon themselves in the near future in a vapid attempt to try and 'find themselves' or such trite.

Of the pillars that Larian has come to respect I think their next game is going to be both an RPG and a representative of everything they've achieved. Namely, in created robust and creativity stoking gameplay systems and, newly, in providing uncompromised cinematic presentation that belies the otherwise characteristic shortcomings of this genre. With those in mind I can only really see one avenue 'up' for the company in terms of scale, although it seems almost ridiculous to seriously consider it. The only RPG developers who occupy that similar space to Larian would be Bethesda, who specialise in giant open world-simulation style adventure RPGs. Would it be truly insane to believe that could be the next port of call for Larian? And what would be responsible expectations is it were?

Personally I believe we have enough failures pretending they can be Bethesda in this department; it's a hugely complicated space to try and fill and even with the biggest developers in gaming at your beck and call most don't get it right. Most open world RPGs just end up being at best Assassin's Creed bloatware. Could Larian break that curse and become genuine competition to Bethesda, a developer some assert have grown complacent on their throne? Before Baldur's Gate 3 I wouldn't have dared think so- now I'm fascinated to think what kind of twist Larian could bring to that world. Imagine the freedom of Skyrim tied to robust party based dynamics! The mind boggles and the heart flutters- and if that is indeed and accurate assumption of 'The Larian of the future' then sign me up! (Unless it's a 'Divinity' universe game. Those games have terrible world building.)