Ahh, the son of Bahal has woken up, it's time to do more experiments! It's been about 20 years since the mighty Joneleth Irenicus uttered this iconic phrase, prelude to an unforgettable adventure for many, deserving a throne in the Olympus of videogame masterpieces.
It was September 2000 and our CD player was gagging and vomiting the four discs that made up the main adventure of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, to get rich the following year with a fifth disk containing the legendary Throne of Bhaal expansion. Based on the 2.0 edition of Dungeons & Dragons, that of THAC0 to be clear, he succeeded in the arduous task of embodying once again the complexities of the paper role-playing game and propose them in a lean and effective system.
What particularly surprised beyond the remarkable duration of the adventure compared to the predecessor, were the opportunities to interpret your character in a manner consistent with your alignment and the multiple opportunities for completion depending on your style of play.
We would even have had to modify the members of our party according to our choices, our supporting actors used to question our work according to their personal morale, guaranteeing a very high replayability.
Well 20 years later the heavy legacy of BioWare is picked up by the talented guys of Larian Studios, who, thanks to the success of their recent Divinity: Original Sin, take up the challenge ready to give the Baldur's Gate saga new life. They do it in their own way, proposing an updated regulation that embraces the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, introducing a system of initiative and turns, thus removing the glorious tactical pause of times gone by.
Although the real-time combat system with optional pause may seem out of date for the present day, we have the excellent example of Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity continuing the glorious tradition. We can therefore assert that the choice of a turn-based combat system was adopted by Larian Studios to make the universe of the Sword Coast adhere to a more familiar system with more precision. And it works. It works beautifully, so much so that it evokes the feeling of a paper role-playing adventure with even more force and repeats it on screen.
A few days ago we have the opportunity to take the first timid steps in the Early Access of Baldur's Gate III, chapter set 100 years after the extraordinary events of Bhaal's offspring. As per tradition we have spent hours creating the character, the first step of any great adventure. Although the editor offers us a good dose of aesthetic customization of our Avatar, we are far from the complexities proposed by the most modern MMORPGs, but not too far from the Dragon Age: Inquisition editor.
When we arrived at the choice of race and class, the Early Access phase immediately made itself felt: many races are absent, but above all some of the most loved classes, such as the barbarian, the sorcerer, the bard and the paladin. We immediately scaled back our expectations, strengthened by the words of the Larian guys who promise to fill those gaps in time for the official release. The absence was felt most during the creation of the character concerns however alignment, or the opportunity to choose the morality of our Avatar and all the resulting choices and consequences.
After watching a jaw-dropping introductory movie, the first phases of the game see us busy in the escape from the Nautiloid of the Illithids, more commonly known as Mind Flayers, engaged in a tough battle with the Knights of Dragons Githyanki, who will be the epic backdrop to the first bars of the narrative plot. Similar to the Bahal infection of the second episode, this time we will be infected with an Illithid parasite, which will soon transform us into a tentaculous abomination unless you succeed in the desperate task of finding a cure in time.
The exploration lives up to the original concept of the saga, where we and our allies we will be able to move freely between the game maps, exploring the dark ravines and plundering voluptuous chests in search of treasures, all in real time. Finding ourselves in the vicinity of enemies and hostile characters will immediately take over the turn-based system, which will automatically generate the order of action of opponents and companions based on the initiative.
As in Dungeons & Dragons in Baldur's Gate III a single turn is aimed at simulating 6 seconds of the real world, during which we will be able to access a move move and an attack movebe it physical or magical. Of course, as we level up, our options will increase exponentially, representing our character's ability to perform at their best during their turn.
The management of the camera allows us to follow the progress of the action both in the third person and in isometric, however showing not a few uncertainties between the viewing angle and interpenetration with the scenario laying excellent foundations, on which the work to be done is still long and above all evident. Baldur's Gate III's camera follow and panning also need more cleanliness, immediacy and dynamism in order to make the gaming experience enjoyable.
During the dialogues the direction of Baldur's Gate III gives us half-busts, totally deviating from the isometric that will characterize most of the adventure, ensuring greater immersion during dialogue choices. As always, the aforementioned choices represent one of the most interesting points provided by the genre, always guaranteeing us the possibility of managing conversations and resolutions as we wish, modifying the experience and the outcomes of the adventure through conversations. To strongly impact on inquiries and conversations, we find the skills and knowledge of our avatar, which guarantee us further resolutions often thanks to a die roll, and that make the character's development weigh not only during the battles but also and above all during diplomacy and the most heated discussions.
Although the player unfamiliar with the game systems related to paper may find it difficult to immerse themselves in the game system, especially that concerning spells, one of the greatest strengths of Baldur's Gate 3 is represented by the clarity of the menus and the accessibility that it follows, quickly providing all the tools to better master the potential of the various characters.
In Baldur's Gate III an honorable mention should be dedicated to sound design and the soundtrack, perfect auditory mats able to support immersion in the game world, between drums and magical sizzles of lightning bolts and darts. The animations however often show the side of loading delays and imperfections, which at crucial moments can literally break the magic and make us turn up our noses.
The Early Access of Baldur's Gate 3 is all in all solid, fascinating and evocative. The guys from Larian Studios have wisely collected the legacy of the past and have been able to propose it again in line with the needs of today without distorting its soul, but embellishing it with ideas and interesting ideas. At this stage, the countless lack of content certainly makes itself felt and we can't wait for all the absent features to be implemented and the present ones refined. Despite this Baldur's Gate III is very enjoyable, the choice is yours to wait for the official release or immediately dive into this new adventure.
► Baldur's Gate III is an RPG-Adventure game developed and published by Larian Studios for PC, Mac and Google Stadia, The release is scheduled: 2020
