The D20 Beat: Baldur’s Gate III hints at the next generation of old-school RPGs

Flexibility is a hallmark of Larian Studios design in their Divinity: Original Sin series. Stories offer branching paths, your companions change the way you approach situations, and the character creator offers a mind-boggling number of combinations.

And you can see most of this in the Steam Early Access section of Baldur’s Gate III. I’ve spent about 12 hours with him, and this is all in the opening act of this Dungeons and Dragons-Roleplay based on I already discovered several areas that give you multiple ways to tackle challenges, interesting and fun conversations and strategies that come from playing with your party makeup and a strong character creator that, once filled with all classes , cultures and backgrounds, will offer the variety we expect not only from D&D but Larian too.

Exploring the grave you see in the studio’s debut broadcast of the game is just one example of this.

In my first run, I encountered a band of loot-hungry adventurers in a dungeon abandoned by the gods. I entered the tomb through a hole I had created, falling into an abandoned bedroom. This led to a challenging fight, and once I hit my enemies, two of my companions were at death’s door.

One of the best aspects of combat in Original Sin is here in Baldur’s Gate III: using the environment against your enemies. I came across some alien-like projectiles while escaping from the mind skinner nautiloid (either in chests or in the bodies of dead illithids) early in the game. I found that if you throw them, they would act like grenades, dealing a bit of damage. But they also leave a viscous, flammable fluid on the ground. So I threw a couple of these bulbs at my enemies and then set their world on fire. But they came back to me, broke into the bedroom (I was trying to hide in the corners so their wizard and archers couldn’t see me through the door), and then took down two members of my party.

The second time it was quite different.

I found a new way to enter the tomb, one away from this encounter and closer to the end of the dungeon (which I had learned on my first visit). I ran it back, gathering better gear and gear. As I was approaching the entrance and this ambush, I realized it was coming from a different direction and I ambushed them, getting surprise. I stabbed Astarion (a rogue) in the back, silenced his wizard, and again covered the floor in viscous fluid and set it on fire. This time, I didn’t even get hit.

One thing that helps open exploration: jump.

Make the jump

Above: See that bug bear with the morning star poking out of its chest? I did that.

Image Credit: GamesBeat

You cannot participate in many role-playing games, and this is something that has been lost in the past. D&D video games like Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity, and other old-school party-based games. And in Baldur’s Gate III, jumping helps you get to all kinds of places.

Let’s go back to that grave. After leaving a druid grove, I went exploring, thinking that I would see what I could find before entering that tomb through the hole in the ceiling of the bedroom that I had found earlier. Near that part of the ruins, I found a side area that I could explore by jumping over some rocks. I discovered an entrance that led me to a sealed room. I never knew how to get in the first time I explored the tomb. But this time, when I entered the dungeon, I found myself in a room that I had not been in before. And after opening the door, I found out that it was that area.

Jumping also helps you find secrets. The region is full of places that can be reached by jumping or climbing. I found a couple of Harper caches this way (Harpers are the well-aligned faction of people in the Forgotten Realms).

The Z axis is also important in combat. When you win the high ground, you get bonuses to your attacks. This also means that you can feel a little more free to turn the surface below into an acidic, wet and / or burning mess; you won’t hurt your friends if they are above the fray.

My favorite part is using the Push action to push enemies from above. In a fight, I sent my character (a Tiefling warlock) and Astarion to a bluff on a battlefield. An annoying bear chased me here, and when it reached the top, I had my witcher elbow them on the ledge. The insect bear fell, was injured and left a small pool of blood on the ground. On the next turn, they were shaken out of their prone condition by the fall and climbed back up… only for my warlock to push the brute over the edge once more.

The enemies in Baldur’s Gate III are smart enough to take advantage of the high terrain. But so far, they don’t seem to be smart enough to stay off ledges when you’re close enough to push them over the edge.

Remember: this is early access

Above: I’m still looking for ways to do skill tests just so I can get this cool d20.

Image Credit: GamesBeat

Larian is releasing Baldur’s Gate III in a similar way to how he did with the Divinity: Original Sin games – posting parts of the first act, roughly 20 hours of playtime. The idea here is for players to provide extensive feedback on how their systems work, what things break, etc. Larian also encourages players to go through multiple races, trying out new characters, party builds, and approaches to dialogue and quest options.

So don’t expect a polished or finished product. We are not going to learn all the mysteries about the flayers of the mind and the Absolute. And we won’t know what role Bhaal, the god who figures most prominently in the history of this series, plays.

And the construction has some other problems. My wizards couldn’t copy spells from scrolls. When some characters or monsters died, they left long stretched corpses. And you would see across the terrain and people from time to time. But those are problems you would expect from an early access build.

I could say a lot more about Baldur’s Gate III, but I want to leave a lot for you to discover (I will note that my favorite entities from the Realms make an appearance). But we can see well where Baldur’s Gate III is headed, and I think many of you will want to jump on board.

The D20 Beat is GamesBeat Managing Editor Jason Wilson’s column on role-playing games. It usually runs every two weeks, but like wandering monsters, it can appear at any time. Covers video games, the digital components of traditional tabletop RPGs, and the rise of RPG streaming. Send me a message if you have any news, knowledge or memories about RPGs to share … or just want to take me a digital D20.