Larian Studios recently showcased the first ever pre-alpha gameplay for Baldur’s Gate 3 at PAX East 2020. While the reception was generally positive – save for some bugs on-stage – there has been some criticism over certain design and presentation choices. Others are simply more curious as to why the game has a max party size of four instead of six.
Larian CEO Swen Vincke addressed this on Twitter but also talked about the company’s goal with the overall game. “Our goal is to capture the spirit of [Dungeons and Dragons] 5e just like Baldur’s Gate 1/2 tried to capture the spirit of 2e. We’re not looking to recreate the previous games. Different times, different methods.” He followed up by stating that party size is “a topic we discussed at length. We decided to go for 4 for a variety of reasons but 6 could certainly work too.”
The developer has talked about other choices like going with turn-based combat over real-time with pause since the latter felt “messy”. But a lot could change between now and release, especially when you consider that Baldur’s Gate 3 goes into early access later this year. Players can expect Act 1 of the story along with five Origins characters and 11 classes.
The final release is expected to have over 100 hours of gameplay with 15 total races/sub-races and 1.5 million lines of dialogue. It’s currently in development for PC and Google Stadia so stay tuned for more details in the coming months.
Our goal is to capture the spirit of 5e just like BG1/2 tried to capture the spirit of 2e. We're not looking to recreate the previous games. Different times, different methods.
— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) March 1, 2020
That said – party size certainly is. a topic we discussed at length. We decided to go for 4 for a variety of reasons but 6 could certainly work too.
— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) March 1, 2020
