Larian Studios is following an established pattern with the early access release ofBaldur’s Gate 3. The developer has used a lengthy early access period for previous RPG gamesDivinity: Original SinandDivinity: Original Sin 2to great effect, withDivinity: Original Sin 2hailed by many gamers as one of thebest RPG games ever made. However, that doesn’t mean thatBaldur’s Gate 3isn’t without divisive content in its early access state, and studio founder Swen Vincke talked about the developer’s efforts to please gamers in a recent interview.
Baldur’s Gate 3is already switching up the establishedBaldur’s Gateformula with turn-based combat rather than the real-time battle of its predecessors. This is in part due toBaldur’s Gate 3being the first in the series developed by Larian Studios and not Black Isle Studios, but it also further entrenches the game in its tabletop RPG roots. The game is based on theDungeons and Dragons5th Editionruleset, and like the many other editions that came before it, 5th edition is centered around using polyhedral dice for nearly all aspects of play.
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But according to Vincke, the use of dice inBaldur’s Gate 3has been a particular issue that has prompted a lot of feedback from fans. Although Larian Studios wants to keep dice mechanics to really ground the game inDungeons and Dragons, some players have been quick to point out the limitations of dice during early access. Vincke says the development team wants to ensure that people are “playing the game that we want them to be playing,” but the team also wants to listen to player feedback to avoid the controversy encountered with systems like armor and durability inDivinity: Original Sin 2.
To address fan concerns, Larian Studios is still experimenting with the dice mechanic and have come up with a variant called “Loaded Die.” This system incorporates elements of RNG but also aims to balance out the inconsistencies that come with characters rolling 1’s or 20’s in situations that don’t make sense. Although Larian Studios is still working on the Loaded Die system, it could be a way to satisfy players looking for a less mechanical roleplaying experience and helpBaldur’s Gate 3redefine roleplaying games.
Although the dice discussion inBaldur’s Gate 3is far from resolved, Vincke does reiterate the importance of the sheer amount of feedback Larian Studios receives from the game’s early access. The studio haslearned some things from theDivinityseries, and it has built up a system of analytics tools used in those games to better understand player decisions inBaldur’s Gate 3’s early access. “It makes the game better,” Vincke says, but making sureBaldur’s Gate 3is as good as it can be also means giving it plenty of time to go through the early access revision process. As Vincke puts it, large-scale RPGs “just need time, they need to cook.”
Baldur’s Gate 3is available in early access now for PC and Stadia.
