Baldur's Gate 3 Is Finally Leaving Early Access. So What Comes Next?

Some time ago - back when things seemed simpler, I played a game with a friend called Baldur’s Gate Deadly Alliance. It did not end well for us but we enjoyed it and it was a great night. It was just the memory of this great night that prompted us to buy Dragon Age: Origins as it was from “The team behind Baldur’s Gate”. My love for the Dragon Age series is no secret but my love for The Forgotten Realms is vastly unknown.

Dandelion looks different in the new season of The Witcher.

I have sampled many Dungeons and Dragons products in my time - some without knowing they were even part of the D&D world. Some of these games have rolled higher than others and, as any D&D fan will tell you, the quality of digital D&D can be pretty mixed. However, unless I am actually playing D&D, only Baldur’s Gate III - even in early access -  is the only game that truly comes close to the level of freedom given in the TTRPG that is D&D.

I spoke a while back about what I wanted for Back 4 Blood and my hopes for it pre-release, now with the looming release of Baldur’s Gate III and the expectations surrounding  Larian Studios’  game, I want to discuss what I would like to see and what I believe the community would like to see.

Level Cap

In the recent announcement, the community was told the Level Cap would be Level 12, upped from Level 10 in Early Access. This is similar to that of D&D 5E (the current edition of the TTRPG) campaigns where most will take you from level Level 1 to about Level 10-13, depending upon the campaign. This has me somewhat concerned as that could leave our characters with untapped potential. The map is huge - even in Early Access and we have not even reached the titular city yet.

I really would have appreciated it if we had gotten the Level 1-20 experience, for the launch game. If the game sticks as closely to 5E as the developers have suggested, there will be some creatures that are a challenge, even at Level 12 but there are many subclass features you get at Level 11 that won’t have much use, and some of the late game features at Level 13 and above will go unused. Larian may well remedy this in any number of ways but I feel one way it can be done is some good old DLC.

It’s a big world out their, with lots to see!

Advocating for DLC? Pre-release? For a game that has spent almost three years in Early Access? “Well, I never!” I hear you cry. But yes, even the TTRPG D&D has “DLC” - we just call them “Source Books”. They often give new subclasses (and even new classes) as well as new rule variations - it’s literally a patch for a book that came out previously. How can DLC recreate this though? Simple.

DLC

Firstly, new subclasses would encourage replaying the game, now I am already 100 hours into the Early Access but I always seem to be finding new things. With a new subclass, we would be encouraged to try a new party composition. This new composition may unlock new areas faster, different outcomes in dialogue & give us new things to do. For a game that seems to be so sprawling, claiming 17,000 ending variations, it would be in Larian’s best interest to encourage second, or third runs to see just how different the game can be as even slightly different characters.

They seem like really good friends.

An expedition into Avernus - the first of the nine layers of Hell - would be fitting to the campaign given, canonically, it is set a few weeks after Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, an excellent module for the TTRPG. Or we could visit the ever-popular city of Menzoberranzan. Whilst it is located underneath a different city, it’s also underground so you’d never notice.

Throwing in some side content has never hurt a game when done right and in RPGs, it breaks up the pacing and gives you a break from the world-ending drama of the main quest. The story can be fantastically written, but sometimes you get through less-than-thrilling mission objectives, and let’s be real, a fetch quest is still a fetch quest. Sometimes you don’t want to travel half the map to deliver a letter. Sometimes you just want to murder an encampment of goblins or get up to some hijinks.

Names of Legend

Given the “Year in Realm” date, a few little easter eggs referencing popular characters would not go amiss. In Early Access you can already meet two of the major factions: The Zhentarim - a mercenary group, and the Emerald Enclave - Extinction Rebellion without the radicalisation. For full release, The Harpers have been confirmed In a trailer. Additionally, the D&D movie released early this year gave us a glimpse at two members of two of these groups.

Oh, emmm, that seems bad.

Doric - the Druid Tiefling played by Sophia Lillis was a member of the Emerald Enclave and Edgin, the Human Bard played by Chris Pine was a Harper, meeting these characters (or even mention) would be nice for the franchise laymen that might not get some of the deeper cuts. For the hardcore dice snorters out there though, other names (or people) would be great too, but some beginner-orientated references would be nice for all the new folks jumping into the game.

We already have fan favourite Volothamp ‘Volo’ Geddarm just walking around doing “research”, and in the adventure Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus you can meet Mordenkainen who is also referenced in the movie. 

Expand the Universe

I was hesitant to pick up Baldur’s Gate III, to me it looked like a Dragon Age: Inquisition knockoff - riding off the Bioware tailcoats after the ball had been dropped a few times, but I was wrong. I would love more in this universe, but how far can we go with it?

Oh hey… I know that place!

A parallel sequel in the city of Waterdeep would be nice, have players take on the Undermountain. This is referenced by party member Gale and there has been an Undermountain module in D&D since the second edition in the 90s. This would also be a level 5-20 game but most of the work has been done for Larian here in Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Maps, factions, gangs, big bad evil guy? All already written, 300 pages of, in fact.

There is also the northernmost region of Icewind Dale - another city whose last game came on CD-Roms. Both Icewind Dale (the written module) and Baldur’s Gate III have a few things in common - mainly the Mind Flayers and a crashed ship but the idea can be expanded upon. Similar to the latest Dragonlance module to be released, a side story set in the same timeframe as the main story tackling a different - more regional - threat connected to the overall threat.

Conclusion

These are a few little things that I would like personally. Frankly though, with the stellar job that Larian Studios has done so far, I see Baldur's Gate III doing rather well, both with players of D&D and also with standard gamers as a whole. The story alone is great in Early Access, with much more to be shown. The numerous ways to achieve the same or different outcomes to progress the story really does make every playthrough new and different.

Ohhhh, things seem bad here…

Not to mention the incredible voice acting talent of J.K Simmons, known for playing J. Jonah Jameson, as well as the incredibly underrated, Jason Issacs who voiced Satan in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow; and let’s not forget, Leon. S Kennedy himself, Matthew Mercer. 

This is without even mentioning the sheer amount of voiceover work and lines that have been put into this. The game has all the cards in the world stacked in its favour and if it is as popular as I expect it to be, fun easter eggs and additional content will be icing on the cake. There is nothing worse than wasted potential - Just ask Titanfall 2.