The developers from Larian Studios have announced a delay for Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access from September 30th to October 6th. The team’s message mentions that it is fine for smaller bugs or a few things that are lacking polish to be in Early Access but they are looking to offer fun gameplay experience with as few crashes as possible. A week’s delay will allow devs to triple check stability and localization.
We have bad news, and good news. But first, the bad news! We’re delaying to October 6, by a week. We’ll be back later today with the romance & companionship update to pick you all up again. pic.twitter.com/j2NOEk4jAi
— Baldur’s Late (@larianstudios) September 23, 2020
As promised in the Twitter post above, the devs from Larian have also shared a look at BG3 romances & companionship. If you are interested in having an amorous adventure while saving the world, we have a list of 15+ RPGs that let you have a bit of romance. The message notes that who you journey with is as important as the journey itself. It shapes you, as you shape each other.
Baldur’s Gate 3 aims to take all that binds us together, and offer authentic, reactive relationships from the moment you meet, to whatever eventuality. The road least travelled is best travelled with friends.
Each of your companions have their own personalities, goals, and motivations. Bound by the shared problem of an Illithid tadpole buried in their head, they will join your party but you’ll all have to put your differences aside if you want to survive. The exact relationship you have with your companions, already marred by differences, will be shaped by who you are, what you do, who you side with, and what you say in conversation with them.
“At the end of the day this remains a D&D game and the most important character in a game of D&D is you.”, explains Sarah Baylus, lead writer at Larian Studios, in today’s new video.
The post also mentions that differences breed interesting party dynamics. Creating a custom character will immerse you in the story just as much as playing as one of the Origin Characters. For example, playing as a Drow Wizard will give you different dialogue options than playing as a Githyanki Warlock. These differences will also be present in your relationship dialogues. As you play the game, and you begin to make choices in combat, exploration, and conversation, you’ll be presented with situations and scenarios that are unique to your playthrough.
Just as in real life, the sum of character is determined by many factors, and continues to be shaped by your actions and reactions to the world, and the party you journey with. Frictions may test the party’s resolve, and romances might test the party dynamic. Not only will characters have opinions about you, but also about each other, and other factions in the game. Will you pursue love with one companion to the detriment of another? Or will you side with a faction a companion detests, putting feelings to the side to achieve your strategic goals? As with life, many decisions will have to be made, not all of them easy, and not every outcome obvious.
Through a mix of systems design, narrative writing, and cinematics, Larian is aiming to create three-dimensional relationships that feel as authentic as possible.
How intimate a character will be with you relies heavily on who they are, and who you become on your adventure. There are factions in the game you may side with, or revolt against. Your party will have opinions about that, and in multiplayer – once Origin Avatars have joined Early Access (not day 1) – the systems will technically allow you to have intimate moments with your friends. Talk about party dynamics!
The point is, no matter which race or gender you are, or which class you are, the levels of intimacy party members share will be defined by extremely in-depth, life-like evaluation of everything you’ve been up to together. We’ve tried to create an authentic, reactive relationship system where characters act and react like people. For better, and for worse.
