Third-party Devs and Experts Claim Baldur's Gate 3 is an Absolute Anomaly
Baldur's Gate 3 promises to be a fantastic RPG that could set a new standard for classic RPGs. But should it? According to some developers, Larian Studios' work is so unusual that it should not be placed next to other representatives of the genre.
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The continuation of the iconic series is awaited by a devoted crowd of fans, for whom an encounter with Larian Studios RPG could be an unforgettable experience.
Some might say that Baldur's Gate 3 with all its grandeur could set new standards in RPG genre development. However, does such thinking make sense? Some developers have objections.
Baldur's Gate 3 is an "anomaly"
Just as there is no denying that a tremendous amount of work has been put in the third installment of Baldur's Gate and the game will most likely turn out to be a great success, some people working in gamedev have recently pointed out the rather unusual conditions under which Larian Studios' RPG was created..
It all began with a thread on Twitter, started by Xalavier Nelson of Strange Scaffold. He believes Baldur's Gate 3, despite the fact that it promises to be excellent, should not become the new standard to which other games in the genre are compared.
According to Nelson, the process of developing Baldur's Gate 3 differed from most games on the market:
- a long development cycle, which lasted from around 2017,
- two big games in the genre to learn from and draw inspiration from (Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity Original Sin II),
- a successful three-year period in Early Access, which provided necessary feedback, time to eradicate bugs and an influx of cash,
- a large team consisting of more than 400 people in seven divisions,
- license for one of the biggest fantasy brands in the world - Dungeons & Dragons.
This whole argument was not meant to discredit Baldur's Gate 3, but only to emphasize that Larian Studios' RPG does not set new standards, and is in fact an "anomaly." As Nelson adds:
"Trying to make a game in the same way [as Larian - ed. note], especially without such an advantage, could ruin a whole group of development studios."
The thread has garnered quite a bit of popularity on Twitter, and many other devs have also decided to speak out. Rebecca Harwick from Grimlore Games (SpellForce 3) in her post expressed her hope that no one would expect similar scope from small teams of a few dozen people.
Another developer, Nic Tringali from Lunar Division (The Banished Vault) stated that simply referring to a certain established "standard" is not good. In his opinion:
"Vide o games don't have to increase in size or technological complexity indefinitely, it's just a narrative created by technology companies. If Larian wants to make a smaller game next time, that should be fine!"
Many other people from the industry have also commented on this thread, stressing that while no one wants to discredit the hard work put into Baldur's Gate 3, it is important to remember that indeed, this is an unusual phenomenon.
We will find out what the full fruits of this unusual development process taste like soon - and we'll have to see. Baldur's Gate 3 will debut on August 3 on PC, and September 6 on PS5.
