
Have you been itching to play a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons but life got in the way and you find yourself alone without a DM or a rag-tag party to get in trouble with? Well, worry no more, because one of the most faithful and gorgeous video game adaptations of Dungeons and Dragons is coming up; Baldur’s Gate 3 in August 2023.
It’s the long-awaited sequel to the 25-year-old Baldur’s Gate franchise, and thus, Baldur’s Gate 3 holds a massive cultural significance in the gaming industry. To better understand why this is a huge deal, it’s time for a bit of a history lesson.
The Baldur’s Gate Legacy

Back in 1998, BioWare, one of the most famed RPG developers in history, was just a budding studio ready to take on the gaming scene. They quickly became known for crafting the most faithful Dungeons and Dragons video game adaptation, the original Baldur’s Gate.
Back then, Dungeons and Dragons, the tabletop game, was just enjoying its niche status with the 2nd Edition ruleset. That’s where the first Baldur’s Gate was based, from combat to social interactions, except players could play solo.
It’s a top-down game where players control a party in a bid to save the city of Baldur’s Gate in Faerun in real-time but pausable gameplay reminiscent of a D&D session.
That doesn’t mean Baldur’s Gate is a lonely experience, for it introduced some of gaming’s most compelling and “human” characters, complete with voice acting, flaws, and nuances in their personality. Other than that, it also allowed multiplayer for up to six players in a digital D&D session.
Eventually, BioWare’s success grew, resulting in Baldur’s Gate 2 and a few other successors such as Neverwinter Nights and its sequel. To date, no other game franchise offers a better digital recreation of the Dungeons and Dragons experience than the Baldur’s Gate (and the Neverwinter Nights) series. It was also one of the most accomplished CPRGs (computer roleplaying games) in gaming.
BioWare, however, decided to shed its dependency on Dungeons and Dragons and pursue its own path, moving on to original projects such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Baldur’s Gate then remained dormant for 22 years, save for some remasters.
Enter Baldur’s Gate 3

That isn’t to say Baldur’s Gate 3 didn’t exist conceptually shortly after its predecessors’ success. Another studio managed to snag the license and planned a 2003 release for Baldur’s Gate III, but the game was canceled due to a financial crisis.
More than a decade followed, and Wizards of the Coast, the license owner for Baldur’s Gate games and any Dungeons and Dragons adaptations, decided to contact Larian Studios after the latter’s landslide success with Divinity: Original Sin 2, a turn-based CRPG with gameplay not unlike a wacky Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

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Larian promptly acquired the license to develop Baldur’s Gate 3. And after years of development, Larian Studios has finally come up with perhaps the prettiest and most in-depth Dungeons and Dragons video game adaptation.
Now, Baldur’s Gate 3 is set to be released in August 2023 (though that timeframe is still subject to delays).
The Story So Far
So the big question is whether you need to have played Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 in order to understand its belated sequel. We’re happy to inform you that you don’t.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is its own story independent of its predecessors though there might be some references or homages. After all, they take place in the same world of Faerun. Baldur’s Gate 3 is set in 1492 DR, which is 120 years after the events of Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Meanwhile, the first Baldur’s Gate was set in 1281 DR.
From what we’ve seen in the trailers and what was made available in early access by the developers, Baldur’s Gate 3 will toy around with the notion of Mindflayers running amok in Faerun, possibly flaying minds, among other things.
The game sets players on an urgent journey to save themselves and a few other party members after they were kidnapped by Mindflayers or illithids and implanted with a Mindflayer tadpole.
Based on the 5E or 5th Edition D&D lore, all of the illithid tadpole victims would have turned into Mindflayers after a few hours; but the twist in Baldur’s Gate 3 is that the tadpole seems to be a special kind. It not only gave more time for its victims before it morphed them into illithids but it also provided a telepathic network for everyone implanted with the Mindflayer tadpole.
Hence, the overarching premise for Baldur’s Gate 3 is to find a way to remove the squirming and invasive Mindflayer tadpole before turning into evil Squidwards. And somehow, the answer lies in the city of Baldur’s Gate.
What Kind of Gameplay Does Baldur’s Gate 3 Have?
Like its predecessors, Baldur’s Gate 3 will assume a top-down and isometric perspective, but modern graphics technology has allowed for more dimensions in video games. You can change the perspective to a far third-person view if you want or something in between.
A big change to the gameplay, however, is the flow of combat encounters. Both Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2 were real-time but pausable. Meanwhile, Larian Studios opted for turn-based combat since it’s closer to the tabletop Dungeons and Dragons experience and it’s their choice of combat flow dating back to their Divinity: Original Sin games.
So, if you’ve played Divinity: Original Sin 2, you can expect to be already familiar with Baldur’s Gate 3 once it releases.
Baldur’s Gate 3 follows the 5th Edition ruleset for Dungeons and Dragons, meaning the spells, engagement parameters, stats, character creation, dice rolls, actions, etc. are as close as you’ll get to the tabletop. If you have some 5E characters from your tabletop D&D sessions, you can even recreate them in Baldur’s Gate 3.

You get to control your custom D&D character or pick from a choice of premade ones. These premade characters will also be joining the party regardless since they’re also Mindflayer tadpole victims, binding all of you to a common cause.
The game is also heavy on its story and dialogue. Similar to a tabletop Dungeons and Dragons session, you’ll have to choose your words wisely or whatever you want your character to roleplay in order to progress or figure out the story. You can also pursue a romance with specific A.I. companion characters.
You Can Be Creative & Resourceful Here

Being a Dungeons and Dragons CRPG, you can expect to do just about anything you can in a tabletop session (within the rules, of course).
If your characters have a grease spell, for example, you can taunt some enemies, have them chase your character through a doorway, and then case Grease on the doorway to make them slip and then afterward, light up the grease with Fireball (or Firebolt).
Most combat mechanics and moves you can think of in Dungeons and Dragons can also be applied or recreated in Baldur’s Gate 3. You can also multiclass here where, for example, your Barbarian can dip into the Bard discipline so you can finally have a hideous Bard-barian hybrid.
Additionally, there are multiple avenues of progression here, and it’s up to you to decide which path to take. Want to be Chaotic Evil? Go ahead, though you’ll probably earn the ire of your A.I. companions. The world is your sandbox in Baldur’s Gate 3.
A Sprawling, Multi-layered Open-World

The huge open world with a functioning and seamless Baldur’s Gate city is also the first in the franchise. Larian Studios has gone the extra mile to ensure that the instances and game environments they created are as connected as possible.
And hardcore D&D fans will also find delight in the existence of a fully-realized Underdark environment.
That’s right; the game has a whole underground kingdom and area ripe for delves and exploration. You can find some Underdark entrances littered across the game world, leading to even more dizzying avenues of gameplay and progression.
It’s no secret that the Underdark is one of the most fascinating places in Faerun and Dungeons and Dragons lore since it houses some of the most interesting creatures, such as the Drow, wild Dwarven kingdoms, Beholders, and, more importantly, the Mindflayer hideouts.
Multiplayer is Also Available

And finally, a Dungeons and Dragons game is fundamentally incomplete without multiplayer. Baldur’s Gate 3 has it. There’s a four-player online co-op where your D&D party can play around in the open world.
It’s not clear yet whether there’s going to be a DM/GM mode or not. It’s a mode that allows for one additional player that will act as a Dungeon Master or Game Master, and he can introduce dynamic challenges and encounters to the four other adventurer players. It’s basically a digital Dungeons and Dragons session with a much better interface.
Larian Studios’ previous CRPG, Divinity: Original Sin 2, has a mode like this though it was added later after the game’s release.
Right now, they haven’t confirmed anything like that for Baldur’s Gate 3, but it’s fair to expect something like it down the road after the game hopefully releases in August 2023 for PlayStation 5, Mac operating systems, and Microsoft Windows.