A set of Baldur’s Gate 3 screenshots have leaked, revealing not just what the game looks like, but also a much more graphically impressive project than first expected.
The screenshots, posted to Imgur just hours ahead of the Baldur’s Gate 3 first gameplay reveal at PAX East, shows an isometric RPG in a similar style to developer Larian Studios’ previous project, Divinity: Original Sin 2. Naturally, this perspective also links it to the original two Baldur’s Gate games, which were both isometric in perspective.
However, it appears that the game also has third-person perspective segments. Dialogue with other characters is shown at a scale akin to The Witcher or Dragon Age, with very impressively drawn character models that are notably more detailed than what we’d expect from an isometric game. There are also what appear to be stills taken from cutscenes, also shown from a similar third-person perspective.
While Divinity: Original Sin 2 was graphically impressive for an isometric RPG, it appears that Larian has striven for something more ‘AAA’ in appearance for Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s unclear if the Divinity engine is being used, but small indicators such as the same fonts suggest that it may be a heavily upgraded version of that tech.
Beyond being graphically impressive, the screenshots also provides hints to the gameplay design, which seems very much within the lineage of the Divinity: Original Sin games. The HUD contains a bottom hotbar with quick access to a variety of what look like abilities, spells, and items. There are also the traditional party portraits, which appear to display icons above them. It’s unclear what those icons represent, but they look like they could symbolise queued actions rather than status effects.
The environments on show are classic Forgotten Realms fare, with tombs, foreboding forests, fire-lit dungeons, and lush woodlands. Within the snippets of conversation shown by the subtitles there’s talk of the Mind Flayers – the C’thulu like horrors shown in the announcement trailer – as well as an indicator that your character’s traits can affect the responses you can provide (one answer is marked ELF, suggesting only an elvish character can say it). The responses are also, unusually, written akin to a character retelling their adventures, rather than just a written out variant of what your character can say. For example, in a scene with a demonic-like character, the options include “This man was a devil! I drew my weapon” and “I told the hell spawn to cut to the chase. What did he want?”
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The Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay reveal takes place at PAX East today at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm UK, so there’s not long to wait until we can see more of this in gameplay form. You can watch the reveal live on our YouTube channel. Dungeons & Dragons owner Hasbro announced that Baldur’s Gate 3 will be available in early access later this year.
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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer and Larian devotee. You can follow him on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Baldur's Gate 3 Leaked Screenshots Look More Impressive Than Expected