Baldur's Gate 3 PAX East Gameplay Reveal Is Divinity: Original Sin But Better

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Larian Studios revealed the first look at Baldur's Gate 3 gameplay footage today during PAX East 2020, giving fans a look at what the RPG will play like as it gets closer to early access in its development cycle. Baldur's Gate 3 took the gaming world by storm when it was first announced by Larian Studios, and will be the sequel to two of the most important RPG fantasy titles in the history of the video game industry, placing a lot of expectation on the title, especially after the incredibly long wait between its second iteration and its upcoming third instalment.

Baldur's Gate 3 will feature a story that centers around mind flayers invading and attacking other races, although their motivation for doing so has yet to be revealed. Baldur's Gate 3 will be part of Google Stadia despite the latter accidentally placing a release date on the game ahead of schedule, while also naturally slotting into a place on the PC platform as well. Larian Studios is famous for the Divinity Original Sin series, which is legendary among RPG fans for the amount of customization and choices present within the narrative - features that also helped Baldur's Gate make a name for itself in its earlier iterations.

During PAX East 2020, Larian Studios demoed the first look players would get at Baldur's Gate 3 gameplay. The presentation began with a look at the game's intro cinematic, complete with a mind flayer inserting "tadpoles" into heroes' heads in an effort to transform them into mind flayers as well. The game's character design system was also demoed before the player character began exploring a beach they had washed up on following a crash before finally leaping into combat.

Combat is turn-based, and is quite similar to what fans became accustomed to with Divinity Original Sin. Players will have many tactical options, including seeking high ground for damage advantages, attacks of opportunity, and more, while players can see the dice rolls behind the game's combat as it is occurring. The demo, which was amusing with a number of mishaps, also confirmed there would be friendly fire on characters. The battlefield in Baldur's Gate 3 is incredibly detailed, and pops visually in a way that is new to the franchise - not surprising, given it's long absence, but welcome all the same.

Honestly, a lot of Baldur's Gate 3's gameplay looked extremely similar to Larian Studios' Divinity: Original Sin 2, and that comes with both positives and negatives. Fans of the franchise might be concerned that it is a little too close to a different series from the same studio, but the comparisons from a technical and visual standpoint are positive - offering a similar amount of choice in combat, dialogue, and character customization. Ultimately, it's likely Baldur's Gate 3 will diverge from Larian's other games as the gameplay progresses - the fight shown was a very early one - but the improvements are enticing and the story will likely hit home for fans as it develops.

Baldur's Gate 3 has no official release date, and is currently confirmed for both PC and Google Stadia.