Baldur's Gate 3's Scriptwriter Revealed That We Were Close to Visiting Starting Location From the First Installment
In an interview with the Rock Paper Shotgun website, Adam Smith and Swen Vincke from Larian studio revealed that Candlekeep, the starting location from the first installment of the series, almost didn't appear in Baldur's Gate 3. Why was it abandoned?
Every fan of the Baldur's Gate series knows Candlekeep very well. This is stronghold on the Sword Coast, brimming with precious books that were studied daily by scholars and their guests, served as the setting for the start of our adventure in the first installment of the series. It served as a typical tutorial area on one hand, but on the other, it wasn't devoid of secrets, which is why it continues to evoke fond memories among many players to this day.
Unfortunately, once we managed to complete the introduction, the gates of Candlekeep slammed shut behind us with a bang. Throughout the entire series, we had the opportunity to return to the fortress of scholars only once - in the sixth chapter of the first installment. However, as it turns out, there was a chance for the iconic location to return in... Baldur's Gate 3.
Return to Candlekeep
That's the impression we can get from the interview with Adam Smith, the main scriptwriter of the latest installment of the famous RPG series, and Swen Vincke, the head of Larian studio, given to a journalist from Rock Paper Shotgun. It's worth quoting at this point some words of Adam Smith:
I had a bunch of ideas for it. I think that it's a good setting, partly because it's going back to where it all began. So that was always compelling. But also because you get an academic dungeon, and there's something interesting about that kind of library dungeon. It's vast, you know, within the lore. And the idea of having this place where you need to go to do research or something, or you need to go down into it. And then you also say, well, this is where the Bhaalspawn was raised -- you know, it's very, very attractive.
What role was Candlekeep supposed to play in Baldur's Gate 3? According to the plans, there would be a completely crazy seer in the basement of the fortress. Our team would have to travel to it to learn the secrets of the so-called Far Realm, where the Mind Reavers are said to come from. As Vincke revealed, during the adventure in Candlekeep, really crazy things were supposed to happen.
Too many climactic moments
So why did the team from Larian studio abandon this idea? The main concern was that adding another location would disrupt the pace of the story. According to Smith, having an excessive number of "climactic moments" can overly fatigue the player.
Of course, this wasn't the only concept that ultimately didn't make it into Baldur's Gate 3. Larian studio also considered the idea of the protagonist ending up in a twisted version of the Far Realm after death, which, as widely known, was never implemented. Did it actually turn out well for the game? You have to answer this question yourselves.
