After eight long months since the RPG’s original announcement, Larian Studios finally revealed the first gameplay footage of Baldur’s Gate 3 during today’s panel at PAX East.
Studio founder Swen Vincke gave an hour-long playthrough of the game, showing off the RPG’s character creation, combat mechanics, conversational options, and in-game cinematics. While there were some obvious bugs here and there (the game is still in early development), Baldur’s Gate 3 looks quite incredible from a graphical standpoint, boasting gorgeous characters and environments that ooze detail.
That shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone who played Larian’s Divinity titles, which are pretty games, too, but the feat is nevertheless impressive for an independent developer that is new to triple-A games. (Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel, Divinity: Original Sin 2 were both funded through Kickstarter.)
Larian Studios also unveiled the opening cinematic for Baldur’s Gate 3, which you can enjoy below. It gives us a good look at the franchise’s Lovecraftian Illithids – otherwise known as Mind Flayers – and how creepy they can be, forcing a parasite into a captive Elf. There’s also plenty of action involving a chase between a Nautiloid (the Mind Flayers’s spaceships) and a band of dragons attempting to fight it off.
Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t have a solid release date yet, but it will be coming to Steam as an Early Access title this year. The RPG will also be playable on Google Stadia, but it isn’t clear when that version will be released.