Baldur's Gate 3 - Interview @Metro

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Swen Vincke and Mike Mearls were interviewed by Metro about Baldur's Gate III.

GC: [laughs] I really enjoyed the combat in Divinity: Original Sin because of the obvious XCOM influence, but because it's an adaptation of existing rules does that mean it'll be very different in Baldur's Gate III?

SV: Yeah, that's the one that I'm not answering. [laughs] I will tell you what the idea is though. So, the reason why I'm not saying anything is because combat is something that is so sacred in this, when it comes to Baldur's Gate, so we want to show it to people rather than just talk about it. However, I can tell you what the idea is. When you play D&D you get thrown challenges that you need to overcome. Some of these challenges require you to go into combat. And to ensure player agency you have to give the player a whole bunch of systems so that they can use them in any way they want to overcome the challenges that are thrown at them. That's what we did in DOS2 because in DOS2 people come up with craziest ways of winning, unwinnable combat. That's also what we'll do in Baldur's Gate III. You're going to see combat that is very easy and you're going to see combat that is hard. You have an entire toolbox at your disposal, which goes beyond just a rule set. It also depends on your imagination, so that you will overcome situations in a variety of ways.

GC: There's always a sort of rule of thumb for me, for a good RPG, and it's whether you can resolve a conflict - a major story set piece, not necessarily fighting with grunts - outside of combat.

SV: Yes!

[...]
More information.
 
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Will BG3 only be playable streamed through Google’s Stadia service? If so I won’t be playing it :(
 
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Good interview, thanks for posting.
Reservations about combat aside, I like what they're saying about the game. I hope they pull it off.
 
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Very nice interview. I like how they are fully aware that BG3 isn't some random RPG they can experiment with and that expectations are high to pretty much unprecedented levels, so they must deliver and they are confident that they can.

Seems like a late 2020 to early 2021 release though, still too early to get hyped about it.
 
To be able to use all those ways to beat enemies in BG3 it will have to be TB. I don't see how they can do it in any other way.
 
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...did DOS2 have combat with obvious XCOM influence? I certainly didn't think so. It was turn based and...no, that's pretty much it. No cover mechanics, no one move one action. Some annoying enemy spawns perhaps?
 
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Nice interview. I think Swen clearly realises that they can't just make a DOS game and call it BG3. There's much more to it.
 
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From what I’ve seen I’m not too worried about too much humor or the game not being serious enough. I feel like they’ll honor the source material. I am a little worried about mainstreaming it for a larger audience but we’ll see.

I don’t really understand keeping the combat system a big secret though unless their still undecided.
 
I wonder if they announced much earlier than intended, for the sake of the Stadia promo. Then they're just staying quiet about the details, so they don't get mobbed later for delivering something different than they said.
 
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I wonder if they announced much earlier than intended, for the sake of the Stadia promo. Then they're just staying quiet about the details, so they don't get mobbed later for delivering something different than they said.

Sounds reasonable, don't see why they would need be so secretive otherwise.
 
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What amazes me is how people who didn't like BG2, didn't like RTwP, didn't like the Divinity games are suddenly rushing to give their opinion about how Larian should be making the game. Why do I get the feeling the polarisation levels will be at maximum months before the game is even released :D
 
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I have to say if this is more like D:OS1&2 than BG1&2, I'm not all that excited about it.
 
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Well, I didn't finish BG1, BG2, DOS 1 or DOS2, so I think I might not be the target audience :D It's okay, there are other games for me and I'm really excited for those that like the party-based games like this one. I prefer the single-character games and I thought Larian shined there too. DD was great and so was DD2.
 
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I have to say if this is more like D:OS1&2 than BG1&2, I'm not all that excited about it.

If this ends up being more like D:OS than BG, Larian better hire bodyguards. :)

DD was great and so was DD2.

Yeah, I thought Dragon Knight Saga was really good. I liked the atmosphere, and it has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a game. It was also more challenging than your typical third-person action-RPG.

I like DD a lot too, but I have to stop short of calling it great due to how much of a slog the endgame was.
 
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They seem to be very serious about the game. Although, I'm holding my breath until I have seen the combat system. Dunno what to do with "We'd rather show it than talk about it."

If BG III is a stepping stone towards the ultimate RPG, I wonder what Swen has in mind... Hope he gets to do his opus magnum at some point.
 
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I have to say if this is more like D:OS1&2 than BG1&2, I'm not all that excited about it.

Well it wont have combat based on elemental counters and it's being designed from a template created by Wizards of the Coast rather than Larian, so I can't see how it can be 'like' the Original Sin series.

As long as the story has the right tone I'd be extremely excited with a modern update and combat system.

Both Bladur's Gate 1 and 2 had their moments of humour, much of which wouldn't be out of place in any given Larian game:

Noober
Edwin/Edwina
Campy villains
Space Hamsters
Smartass dialogue options
And lots more stuff

So while I get that people would rather it mixed up different tones and doesn't stick to pure comedy, it is a worry that some people are gearing themselves up to view any potential light moments as 'proof' that Larian has 'ruined it' when, in order to stay true to the originals, there has to be some light aspects/moments. Maybe even quite a few.
 
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To be able to use all those ways to beat enemies in BG3 it will have to be TB. I don't see how they can do it in any other way.
Yeah… This interview doesn't appear to be new, seems it was done at E3 and for some reason this Metro site just got around to posting it, but it does sound like confirmation of TB combat to me. Can't blame Larian for wanting to "manage" the official announcement of TB combat, gonna be butthurt aplenty once it's known.
 
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What amazes me is how people who didn't like BG2, didn't like RTwP, didn't like the Divinity games are suddenly rushing to give their opinion about how Larian should be making the game. Why do I get the feeling the polarisation levels will be at maximum months before the game is even released :D

True. But what if you loved the BG games AND the DOS games? Actually, that's just as bad I suppose. Polarisation it is.
 
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