Baldur's Gate 3 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Baldur's Gate 3
Developer(s)	Larian Studios
Publisher(s)	Larian Studios
Director(s)	Swen Vincke
Producer(s)	David Walgrave
Programmer(s)	Bert Stevens
Artist(s)	Joachim Vleminckx
Writer(s)	Adam Smith
Composer(s)	Borislav Slavov
Series	Baldur's Gate
Platform(s)	Windows PlayStation 5 macOS Xbox Series X/S
Release date(s)	Windows 3 August 2023 PlayStation 5 6 September 2023 macOS 22 September 2023 Xbox Series X/S 7 December 2023
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Baldur's Gate 3 is an exciting role-playing video game made by Larian Studios. It's the third main game in the Baldur's Gate series. This game is based on the popular tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons.

A first version of the game was released early for macOS and Windows in October 2020. The full game came out for Windows in August 2023. It then launched for PlayStation 5 in September 2023, and for Xbox Series X/S in December 2023.

Baldur's Gate 3 has been highly praised by players and critics. People loved its gameplay, story, and how well it was made. The game even won many big awards, including Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year and The Game Award for Game of the Year.

Playing the Game: How Baldur's Gate 3 Works

Baldur's Gate 3 is a role-playing video game. You can play it alone or with friends online. In the game, you create your own character. Then, you gather a team of other characters to explore the story. You can also team up with other players online.

The game lets you solve quests in many different ways. You can even defeat almost any character in the game. No matter what you do, the story will keep going. The game is split into three big parts, called acts. Each act takes place in a different area of the world. You can explore these areas freely and do quests in almost any order you like.

Baldur's Gate 3 uses turn-based combat, like the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game.

Unlike older Baldur's Gate games, this one has turn-based combat. This means you and your enemies take turns attacking, like in a board game. The combat rules come from the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Most spells and actions are from the tabletop game. Some are changed a little to fit the video game better.

There are 12 main character classes you can choose from. These include Wizards who cast spells or Barbarians who fight up close. Each class has different ways to play. You can even mix classes for your character. This is called multiclassing, and it lets you create unique characters.

You can also find and add 10 special characters to your team. These are called companion characters. Each companion has their own story. You can learn more about them as you play. Your choices in the game can change your relationships with these companions. Some companions only join you if you make certain choices.

All characters in the game, big or small, have voices. Their movements are also recorded from real actors. This means there are about 1.5 million words of spoken lines in the game!

You can move the camera around to see the game from different angles. You can play from a close-up view or from high above. The game works with both a mouse and keyboard or a controller. You can use spells, manage your items, and see your map easily.

The game also lets players create their own mods. These are changes or additions made by the community. Many mods are already available to change how the game looks or plays.

The Story of Baldur's Gate 3

Where the Story Happens

Baldur's Gate 3 takes place in a fantasy world called the Forgotten Realms. The year is 1492 DR. This is over 120 years after the last game, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. It's also a few months after a Dungeons & Dragons adventure called Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus.

The story mostly happens in a place called the Sword Coast. This area has a big forest called the Emerald Grove. It also has Moonrise Towers and the Shadow-Cursed Lands. These lands are covered by a strange, dark magic. You can only get through them with special magical help. The story also takes you to Baldur's Gate, a large and rich city. Other places you visit include the Underdark (an underground world) and the Astral Plane.

You can create your own character from scratch. Or, you can pick one of six special "origin characters." There's also a seventh custom character called the Dark Urge. The six pre-made origin characters can also join your team if you don't play as them. They include:

• Lae'zel, a githyanki fighter
• Shadowheart, a half-elf cleric
• Astarion, a high elf vampire rogue
• Gale, a human wizard
• Wyll, a human warlock
• Karlach, a tiefling barbarian

Four other characters might also join your team:

• Halsin, a wood elf druid
• Jaheira, a half-elf druid (who was in older Baldur's Gate games!)
• Minsc, a human ranger with his hamster, Boo (also from older games!)
• Minthara, a drow paladin

What Happens in the Story

Your character wakes up on a giant flying ship belonging to strange creatures called illithids (or mind flayers). You find out you have an illithid tadpole inside your head. This parasite is supposed to turn you into one of them. But for some reason, it doesn't happen!

The ship is attacked by githyanki warriors and crashes. You meet other survivors who also have these tadpoles. Your team then tries to find a way to remove the parasites. But nothing seems to work. A mysterious "Dream Visitor" helps protect you from the tadpoles' power. This visitor is linked to a special prism that the githyanki want.

You get involved in a conflict at the Emerald Grove. Here, nature-loving druids and refugees are fighting against a goblin army. After you help save or attack the grove, you travel to Moonrise Towers. You hope to find a cure there.

At Moonrise Towers, you learn about General Ketheric Thorm. He is keeping a powerful being named Dame Aylin prisoner. She is the source of his immortality. You get to choose if you want to free her or defeat her. Your team eventually faces Ketheric and his allies, Orin and Gortash. These three control a powerful being called the Absolute. The Absolute is actually an Elder Brain, the most powerful form of the illithids. They want to control everyone with a tadpole. Orin and Gortash leave for Baldur's Gate, while you defeat Ketheric and take his special stone.

You arrive in Baldur's Gate. Orin and Gortash try to turn you against each other. Your companions also work to finish their own personal quests. You discover that the "Dream Visitor" is actually a mind flayer called the Emperor. He lives inside the prism and is holding a powerful githyanki named Orpheus captive. Orpheus is the reason you and your team are not fully controlled by the tadpoles.

You eventually fight Gortash and Orin. You gather their special stones to control the Elder Brain. But the Elder Brain is very smart and outsmarts you. The Emperor then comes to help. To defeat the Elder Brain, someone needs to become a mind flayer and use Orpheus's powers. You can choose to free Orpheus and let him transform. Or, the Emperor, Karlach (if she's with you), or even your own character can consume Orpheus to gain his power.

After defeating the Elder Brain, you have a final choice. You can destroy it and all the tadpoles, ending the threat forever. Or, you can betray your friends and rule as the Absolute yourself.

After the credits, a character named Withers, who watched your journey, returns to his tomb. He teases the gods of evil, saying they were beaten by ordinary people like you.

How the Game Was Made

Swen Vincke is the creative director of Baldur's Gate 3.

The first Baldur's Gate game was made by BioWare in 1998. It used the Dungeons & Dragons rules. That game was very popular, leading to sequels and other games. Over the years, many companies tried to make a new Baldur's Gate game, but it was difficult.

Larian Studios, the makers of Baldur's Gate 3, wanted to make a game in the series for a long time. They first asked Wizards of the Coast (who own D&D) around 2014. But at that time, Larian was still a newer studio. After Larian made their successful game Divinity: Original Sin II in 2017, Wizards of the Coast were impressed. They then asked Larian if they still wanted to make Baldur's Gate 3. Larian said yes!

Baldur's Gate 3 is based on the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game.

The game uses the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rules. Larian made some small changes to these rules to make the game more fun as a video game. For example, the combat system is a bit easier for the player than in the tabletop version.

Larian Studios first hinted at Baldur's Gate 3 in 2019. They officially announced it at a Google event for the Stadia platform. They said it would come out for Windows and Stadia. The tabletop adventure Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus was released in 2019. The story of Baldur's Gate 3 happens right after that tabletop adventure. In 2020, Larian also announced the game would come to macOS.

Early Access Version

Baldur's Gate 3 was first released in an early access version on October 6, 2020. This version only had the first part of the game. It offered about 25 hours of gameplay. You could choose from 16 races and 6 classes to start. Over time, Larian added more features and content to this early version. This included multiplayer options and more classes.

The game stayed in early access until its full release in August 2023. The Stadia version was canceled because the Stadia platform shut down. The PC version was released on August 3, 2023. The PlayStation 5 version came out on September 6, and the macOS version on September 22.

An Xbox Series X and Series S version was also being made. It had some technical problems with split-screen co-op on the Series S console. Microsoft wanted all games to work the same on both Xbox Series X and S. Larian eventually got special permission from Microsoft to remove split-screen on the Series S. This allowed the Xbox version to be released on December 7, 2023.

After Release

After the game fully launched, Larian added new features with updates. One update added a "Magic Mirror" so players could change their character's look. Another big update added two new difficulty modes. It also added a new ending part with many new dialogue lines. This made sure the ending changed based on the player's choices.

A physical version of the game is planned for early 2024.

Awards Won

Baldur's Gate 3 has won many awards! Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Baldur's Gate III para niños