Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback How does one capture the essence of the original Baldur's Gate? An honest opinion from longtime fan.

Hello,

2 things:

1. BG3 is awesome - its super fun, its beautiful, its immersive. Love it, keep up the great work. Not super thrilled about the decision to be turn based combat, but it is fun to push goblins off ledges. It is FUN. I have no intention to detract from how amazing this game is, and where it is going. I hope they make more.

2. There remains an aching void in the hearts of many die-hard fans of the original, un-enhanced, baldur's gate: tales of the sword coast.... And while part of it is attributable to nostalgia glasses.... i think we can all agree there was something profoundly special about that first game. AND I BELIEVE THERE REMAINS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SOME BRAVE SOULS TO CAPTURE ITS ESSENCE IN MODERN 3D GAMING!!!


My credentials:
- First played the original BG when I was 9 years old. It completely changed my life. I chose adventurous outdoors professions as a result IRL. Have since been in helicopters on mountain peaks collecting mineral samples, run-ins with bears (+a grizzly), travelling to indonesia, surfing remote waves.... these are all inspired by the call to adventure that the first BG evoked in my young mind. I have bottomless gratitude to the original creators.

- Played BG2, TOB, SOD, icewind 1, HOW, Icewind 2. They were all great, but still #1 in my books was the original baldur's gate - indeed that game started it all...

The original game had a 'feel' to it that is yet to be captured with modern gaming technology.

Its aesthetic had something shakespearian, medieval yet renaissance, and understated. It seemed mature (after all the opening line is a particularly cool Nietzsche quote) yet often quite silly. One foot in realism, one foot in fantasy. The arrows whizzing by in real time. (Example: You see an enemy wizard starting to cast that "Fear" spell you recognize, you think "Shit!" and quickly react and shoot arrows to try to disrupt their spellcasting Mid-spell!! Sooo exciting. Meanwhile some armoured jerk is hacking at you with a sword. The real-time aspect is huge. I know its not textbook DND, but if we were trying to be the spiritual successor of BG, perhaps we should hang onto what made it so beloved in the first place?

The speed at which characters moved seemed appropriate, why would you jog everywhere? It was tasteful in its use of visual effects to represent magic or special abilities. The world had lots of open, empty space to explore. (Think of a painting - the empty space is necessary to amplify the beauty of the subject).

There was something in the art/design of landscapes, items, sprites, UI, and portraits, that no one has captured. It felt solid.

All the other new games that have tried, such as pillars of eternity, somehow come out looking cartoonish the way the sprites run around etc. Same with BG3 (no offence.. Love it! just my honest observation). Maybe the difficulty is because of the shift from 2D isometric low-resolution to high res 3D. I don't know how you could capture the elegance of those original sprites in 3d. But i bets its doable!

Why is it so hard to re-create it's essence? Why are all modern games/rpgs so highly-saturated visually with every second item magically glowing, or some elaborate visual effect for the character "Preparing" to Dash? In aesthetics, simplicity if often key!

I don't know, but i can tell there's a huge thirst for someone to capture the "feel" of the original. I don't care if it's called "Baldur's Gate". That doesn't matter. The new BG3 gets close, but "feels" more like neverwinter nights, than original BG. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Neverwinter nights was great. BG3 is great.

What they all have in common is: The forgotten realms.

There is room for more games of this type. There is a market for a Forgotten Realms game that feels like a modernized BG1. Hell it doesn't even have to be isometric - it could even be first person shooter perspective. The thing that fans of the original miss is the FEEL. It's hard to pin down, but I believe it is possible to recreate the secret BG sauce.

And lastly, let us not forget that the original BG1 had a HUUUGE influence on fantasy RPGs. We had best ask ourselves why that is. They used a picture of COFFEE BEANS in .Jpeg to create the cobbled streets of Baldurs Gate and Beregost!!! Talk about creative limitation.

And still people are playing this game 30 years later. Theres something about it. It's not just nostalgia. We know it. I feel nostalgia for all kinds of things, and this is different. This is a deep knowing. An appreciation of art, of beauty, of simplicity. I believe video games can be avenues of fine art and mythology. There was a spark of something divine in the original. Larian has whet the appetite of those who still hunger for the essence of the original Baldur's Gate. Not BG2, not the enhanced versions. The ORIGINAL. Thats where it all began.


Out.