Baldur’s Gate 3 Devs Revealed How One of Characters Initially Looked Like. He Didn’t Resemble His Current Design Even a Bit
Larian Studios showed off the original appearance of one of the most beloved characters from Baldur's Gate 3.
Changes in the appearance of characters are commonplace in popular culture. I think everyone remembers the criticism that Paramount and SEGA faced after presenting the movie Sonic. In this case, the appearance of the hero was known to the audience, who were unequivocally opposed to such a portrayal.
However, there are situations when the devs themselves determine that one of their ideas may not be entirely successful and opt to make changes for the sake of the story. This was also the case with Larian Studios and Astarion.
He was originally from a completely different race
The Game Developers Conference 2024 is currently underway and different developers are sharing intriguing details with gamers about their most recent releases. CD Projekt RED, a leading Polish developer, was also present alongside the highly popular and well-regarded Larian Studios.
The devs of Baldur's Gate 3 showed off some of the solutions that were ultimately abandoned. One of them was the first look of Astarion, who was originally not an elf, but a tiefling. He also lacked his distinctive white hair and had completely different facial features, which were far from his current appearance.
While the dark version of Astarion may in theory match his vampire nature, players commenting on the photo on Reddit aren't convinced about this version of the character. However, some justify this type of decision and demonstrate that it would be meaningful.
This is so weird.... interesting, but super glad they didn't go this direction with Astarion.
-- Whatisthissugar
Honestly, writing Astarion around being a tiefling actually does explain why he doesn't work so hard to cover up his vampirism besides feeding in secret.
It would also explain why the party seems surprised, instead of acknowledging that he was, obviously, always a vampire.
I'm glad they made the change though (...).
-- DaddyMcSlime
Not only the appearance has changed
The vampire's looks weren't the only subject discussed by fans and Larian Studios. The protagonist's responses in the original version of the game were intended to be written in the past tense, representing their meaning in a general way rather than as exact lines of dialogue, as can be observed on the game screen.
It was a huge change that occurred because of the extremely negative feedback from players following the presentation of the early game version. At first, Larian Studios envisioned our protagonist (or the companion we choose) as the primary narrator of the gameplay. However, the main problem was the pervasive issues in the first-person past tense that weren't even expressed, but only represented the character's thoughts.
Sam Swen Vincke explained that the decision is aimed at bringing the player closer to the character by revealing his thoughts. However, the players weren't convinced by such a statement and unanimously stated that dialogue lines in the past tense effectively distance them from immersion.
Fortunately, over the course of several months, Larian Studios gave up the unusual idea and decided to rewrite the narrative in such a way that it would meet the expectations of players.
As you can see, many changes have occurred since the beginning of BG3's production, and it's important to remember that we likely aren't aware of most of the devs' ideas that ultimately didn't make it into the game.
