Baldur’s Gate 3 could have been completely different!
It was in 1998 that the Baldur’s Gate license was born… A franchise which today is back on the front of the stage with a third opus which took a long time to come out. It must be said that between the launch of Baldur’s Gate in 2000 and today, a lot has happened. It is also for this reason that theon learns today that Baldur’s Gate III could have taken a completely different form.
It is indeed, Tim Cain, one of the creators of the very first Fallout, but also co-founder of the studio Troika Games (Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines) who recently took the floor to reveal a surprising anecdote to say the least: Baldur’s Gate 3 could have been a first-person game… Yes, you read correctly !
A multiplayer mode prime !
It was in 2003 that the studio of Troika approach Wizards of the Coast, the studio formerly in charge of the Baldur’s Gate license, to create Baldur’s Gate 3. As we said earlier, in no case should it be a competitor of the saga Diablo, but a role-playing game in first person view, which during the fights would pass in third person view. Of course, this reminds us in a way of Skyrim, which allows you to change views on the fly.
Nevertheless, unlike Bethesda’s game, this version of Baldur’s Gate 3 also had to integrate multiplayer mechanics. Players could indeed have gone to an arena to participate in player versus player clashes, or even work in cooperation. One mode also had two teams race to see who will complete a quest first. To reinforce this multiplayer aspect, the software would have been delivered with a tool allowing players to design their own quests.
Towards a simplification of approaches
However, and this is surely what did not please Wizards of the Coast, which you can imagine, refused the idea, the “role-playing” aspect would have been diminished and the action put forward. The players would therefore not have had the choice of their skills, but only of a class. (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Warrior, Mage, Assassin) who evolve automatically over their exploits. Also note that only one character was playable, but companions were still planned to lend main-strong to the hero.
To finish, on learns that other versions of the game were also discontinued before Larian Studios picked up the slack. THE studio Interplay had also planned to tackle the license. This game, whose code name was Black Hound, was to take place in the Forgotten Realms and offer a new story that was very different from that revealed by the first two games.
And you, you would have liked to discover the version of Tim Cain? As a reminder, Baldur’s Gate III is expected for August 3 on PC, then for September 6 on PlayStation 5.
