Baldur's Gate 3 - Swen Vincke Interview @Gamespot

Swen Vincke of Larian was asked by Gamespot - whats next for Baldur's Gate 3.

loading…

Our resident CRPG nerd Dave Jewitt sits down with Larian's Swen Vincke to catch up on Baldur's Gate 3's development, what the future holds for BG3, and we are made to roll a D20 to find out if it's coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X…It wasn't a nat 20…

More information.

So basically, no release expected this year? Not a shock given the slow ass development over the last seven months. My guess of a 2023 release is very possible now.

I expect something like summer 2022, but at this point it's hard to tell. I'm in favour of a slower development instead of CP2077-like release in any case.

I'm glad to hear they are still changing core systems. It sounds like there is lots of deep content in this one.

Baldurs Gate 3 - coming in 2024

I feel like this game is going to be mediocre. Even though it's being developed by Larian, it's a sequel to a Bioware game, and Bioware's last few games have had poor scores on Metacritic. Therefore, logic dictates that this probably isn't going to be very good.

heh the next two patches will be intresting i wonder what will win dos 2 or DNd… gonna be intresting to see what they change…

I didn't expect this to launch in 2021. I will be a bit disappointed if it doesn't come out in 2022, though.

i played the heck out of the EA, but haven’t followed much news on BG3 since.

Have they released any more content in the patches or are they just tweaking the mechanics?

They only released the Druid class and a bunch of patches. Reddit's in a frenzy over a small tweet claiming a huge update is on the way in the next few weeks or months.

I'm just really hoping this is much superior to their past two offerings. If that means waiting another couple of years for that to happen, I'm ok with that. Take your time, get things right, eliminate the suck.

Speaking of adding the Druid class, I don't know if they have mentioned anything about all DnD classes being in the game, but I feel they should aim for that. It's hard to imagine playing a DnD game of BG3's scope without being able to choose one of your favourite classes, and they are still missing Barbarian, Bard, Monk, Paladin and Sorcerer.

If they do get added, it will be a lot of development time on top of anything else they need to do.

"the problem is that, (with) the tabletop system, certain things don't translate well to the video game" - and that's the main point with Larian games. They have a very personal way of making those games, a typical signature, and they really want to bend D&D to keep that signature. So far it's not too different, but I'm concerned to hear this. I was hoping they wouldn't modify it further but it looks like that's what they've already set out to do.

Well, these tabletop rules translated well in Solasta didn't they?

I'm sure it'll be fun and very high quality, in terms of exploration, voice acting, C&C, world interaction and overall player freedom. But we'll really have not to expect a faithful D&D ruleset, and just take it as it is. Purists may have an issue with it.

Late 2022 seems a fair estimation

PS: Larian still haven't found decent mikes apparently. I can assure you that we have decent microphones in Belgium

Originally Posted by Nereida
Speaking of adding the Druid class, I don't know if they have mentioned anything about all DnD classes being in the game, but I feel they should aim for that. It's hard to imagine playing a DnD game of BG3's scope without being able to choose one of your favourite classes, and they are still missing Barbarian, Bard, Monk, Paladin and Sorcerer.

If they do get added, it will be a lot of development time on top of anything else they need to do.

I hope they do.

Fextralife and tomsguide have list them, though they don't link sources. There are many long videos and interviews so it may difficult to chase down.

While the Early Access version of Baldur's Gate 3 only features seven player classes, Larian Studios has said it will add more classes and races between now and the game's full launch. In fact, you'll be able to Here are the classes and subclasses we know about so far:

• Barbarian (Path of the Berserker | Path of the Totem Warrior)
• Bard (College of Lore | College of Valor)
• Cleric (Life Domain | Light Domain | Trickery Domain | Knowledge Domain | Nature Domain | Tempest Domain | War Domain)
• Druid (Circle of the Land | Circle of the Moon)
• Fighter (Battle Master | Eldritch Knight | Champion)
• Monk (Way of the Open Hand | Way of Shadow | Way of the Four Elements)
• Paladin (Oath of Devotion | Oath of the Ancients | Oath of Vengeance)
• Ranger (Beast Master | Hunter)
• Rogue (Thief | Arcane Trickster | Assassin)
• Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline | Wild Magic)
• Warlock (The Fiend | The Great Old One | Archfey)
• Wizard (School of Abjuration | School of Evocation | School of Conjuration | School of Divination | School of Enchantment | School of Illusion | School of Necromancy | School of Transmutation)

Oh cool so we should expect six or seven Early Access class updates then.

* That's sarcasm by the way.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Well, these tabletop rules translated well in Solasta didn't they?

I'm sure it'll be fun and very high quality, in terms of exploration, voice acting, C&C, world interaction and overall player freedom. But we'll really have not to expect a faithful D&D ruleset, and just take it as it is. Purists may have an issue with it.

Late 2022 seems a fair estimation

Solasta was a sleeper hit I didn't even think I would like it as much as I did. Still I always think of what that developer could of released with a bigger budget.

Heck it could of been the actually BG 3 if the studio was bigger and well known. As for the D&D rule-set purists lets them burn in the hell planes. Kidding I'm kidding.

We all know Larian will change the rule-set to adapt to the game. As Swen's been pretty straight forward about how Early Access and player feedback will shape the game.

I feel nobody is going to be fully happy with BG3, unless they are willing to be flexible and just enjoy it in whatever form it takes. The old BG games weren't perfect representations of the ruleset back in the day either, so it's all about what expectations each person creates for themselves.

It feels like there is so much user entitlement around BG3 though, from just barely skimming through various sites and threads, I don't remember anything like this since Mass Effect 3, and that is never a good thing.

Anybody notice how tired and exhausted Swen looks lately?

Maybe taking on a project this size will be a learning experience.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Solasta was a sleeper hit I didn't even think I would like it as much as I did. Still I always think of what that developer could of released with a bigger budget.

Heck it could of been the actually BG 3 if the studio was bigger and well known

Like BeamDog? Perhaps they would have done a good job of it, who knows.

Originally Posted by Nereida
I feel nobody is going to be fully happy with BG3, unless they are willing to be flexible and just enjoy it in whatever form it takes. The old BG games weren't perfect representations of the ruleset back in the day either, so it's all about what expectations each person creates for themselves.

Exactly. Well, maybe they'll adapt a little more, but on the other hand it's TB. RTwP was not really how the tabletop rules were designed, it can make quite a difference in the combat.
I'm fine with all that Mostly. Not the AoE stuff but I can live with it, as long as they don't bring the magic armour.

Originally Posted by Nereida
It feels like there is so much user entitlement around BG3 though, from just barely skimming through various sites and threads, I don't remember anything like this since Mass Effect 3, and that is never a good thing.

What do you mean, fans who see how it should be done because it's D&D, or lots of voiced opinions?

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Like BeamDog? Perhaps they would have done a good job of it, who knows.

BeamDog bah those guys are nothing but quacks.

Got my hopes up for more original games to only cancel them all and fire everyone. Gotta clam down your blood pressure. There not worth it breath in and breath out.

Seriously they can remaster someone else's game but not develop original good games.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
What do you mean, fans who see how it should be done because it's D&D, or lots of voiced opinions?

Both I'm sure you read Reddit and Larian's forums? My favorite is the RTwP vs TB debate. Then we have the creepy fan art and fiction sections. Which remind of the old BioWare.

That's not a compliment you will need to bleach your eyes.