Larian Studios shared a new trailer for Baldur’s Gate III introducing the legendary Forgotten Realms city of Baldur’s Gate.
Here’s a rundown on the city, plus a new trailer:
Opening on an image of the sprawling waters of the Chionthar River, in-game footage reveals a fully next-gen reimagining of this iconic fantasy setting while the development team discusses the daunting undertaking of recreating Baldur’s Gate for a modern RPG. The city of Baldur’s Gate is a metropolis of labyrinthine streets, with alleys, temples, and crowded public houses teeming with life, and stories woven into the lives of every local you encounter.
Baldur’s Gate is back and bigger than ever
“We can put lots more of the city on screen than we could in 1998,” said narrative design expert Lawrence Schick. “We can do something that is more immersive, richer, has more texture to it.”
The city itself is also bigger than any iteration of this setting that’s come before it. The streets — which span the menacing roads of the Outer City, the opulent estates of the Upper City, and the dark alleys of the Lower City — are populated with a rich cast of characters, each possessing their own untold stories, well-kept secrets, and personal reactions.
“You have crowds that are walking around everywhere. You can talk to pretty much anybody, and they react to every single thing,” said Swen Vincke, creative director at Larian Studios. “It’s very alive in that sense.”
“One of the things that’s done is it’s added this level of believability and immersion and also complexity that wouldn’t have been there otherwise,” said associate writing lead Chrystal Ding. “It feels like you are walking around a place where there are lots and lots of people living their actual lives.”
Larian originally prototyped Baldur’s Gate as a series of smaller contained regions connected by teleports, but midway into developing the city, decided to make some major changes.
“[Swen] said, like, can’t we just connect everything?” said world building director Farhang Namdar. “And that was an interesting day.”
Come launch, players will be stepping foot in a Baldur’s Gate made up of three seamless open world districts. No matter if you’re investigating underground crypts, wandering the chambers of a towering citadel, or descending into hidden cellars, there will be no visible loading screens to interrupt your experience.
“We spent I think three times, four times more effort on the city than we originally planned to, but the result, the feeling of walking in there, is just fantastic,” said Vincke. “So the thing that I was the most afraid of when we started making this game turned out to be the thing that I’m the most proud of.”
Baldur’s Gate III is hitting full release on August 31st for PC alongside a PS5 port, with an Xbox Series X|S port coming later. The game has been available as an early access title for Windows PC (via Steam and GOG). You can read our hands-on preview of the game here.
