You “can talk to pretty much everybody” in Baldur’s Gate 3’s “seamless” city

Baldur’s Gate 3 features a detailed open-world, which players can already get a sneak peek at in Steam early access. At the recent PC Gaming Show, Baldur’s Gate 3 director Swen Vincke and his team discussed their aspirations for the game, including how they decided to make it an open world.

Vincke spoke about the difficulties of building RPGs with something to do in every nook and cranny and have it be different enough to stand out from the competition. His team seemed to agree with that sentiment, but emphasized how the seamlessness of the titular city in particular helped to achieve that. Farhang Namdar, world building director, recalled how the team one day suggested that they just “connect everything,” which made all the difference. Associate writing lead Chrystal Ding claimed that that one change it deepened the game’s believability, immersion, and complexity as a result.

“You have crowds that are walking around, can talk to pretty much everybody. And they react to every single thing,” said Vincke. “It’s very alive in that sense.” As expert writer Lawrence Schick put it, “Every person that you meet in Baldur’s Gate has got a story to them.”

In addition to the developer interviews, the PC Gaming Show revealed a new Baldur’s Gate 3 animated trailer. A misfit team of heroes discussed how to best go about confronting an amphibian foe in many unusual ways befitting a game based on Dungeons and Dragons. It’s expected that Baldur’s Gate 3 will include similar amusing conundrums.

Larian Games confirmed that Baldur’s Gate 3 will finally release on August 31, 2023 after nearly two decades since the previous installment. Baldur’s Gate 3 has been on Steam early access since October 6, 2020. We’ve even covered some of the best Baldur’s Gate 3 classes and Baldur’s Gate 3 romances already available in early access. If you wait until later this summer, then you’ll be able to judge for yourself.

For more of tonight’s news, here’s everything announced at the Xbox Games Showcase.