After nearly two decades, the epic Dungeons & Dragons saga of Baldur's Gate will finally see a third installment. Baldur's Gate 3 is being developed by Larian Studios - the famed developer behind the Divinity franchise of games - but apparently, it has proven to be challenging to adapt Dungeons & Dragons' tabletop rulesets to a fit a modern video game.
Thanks to the folks over at PCGamesN.com, the community was given a sneak peek into the ideas that are being poured into Baldur's Gate 3, as shown in their interview with Larian Studios founder Swen Vicke. On the topic of adapting character progression and the traditional Dungeons & Dragons leveling system, Vicke said "That’s actually been one of the things that we’ve been struggling with, because it’s a very slow leveling process in the books," and commented that the handful of levels gained for weeks' worth of tabletop D&D is "not a lot" compared to what most players might expect from a video game.
However, fans of Dungeons & Dragons will be happy to know that Larian Studios is planning to make Baldur's Gate 3 the D&D game that it was always meant to be, including the rules and systems that define the classic roleplaying experience. However, to successfully adapt the game onto modern video game platforms, Larian Studios will have to get creative to let players feel that while they're progression is as meaningful as it is in the tabletop version, they're still progressing in the video game.
Baldur's Gate, which came out in 1998, is one of the pioneers of the RPG gaming genre as we know it today. Filled with masterful storytelling, impactful player decisions, deep character progression, and some of the best computer graphics of the time, Baldur's Gate brought the tabletop RPG to life with technology. Now, over twenty years later, the third installment is coming to all major platforms from one of the most celebrated classic RPG developers of the day, and we're excited to see what Larian Studios can come up with.
What do you think about Larian Studios and their predicament with Baldur's Gate 3's leveling system? Do you think they should stray from traditional D&D rules, or stick to them and come up with other ways to better reward character progression? Let us know in the comments section below!
