New ‘Baldur’s Gate III’ Footage Preview

Larian Studios has released its second gameplay demonstration of Baldur’s Gate III.

Read More: ‘Baldur’s Gate III’: all you need to know about the release date, plot, news and more

The nearly 90-minute presentation made its debut at this year’s D&D Live event on June 18, and featured Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke playing as a level three elf wizard. It includes a number of changes, improvements and new features since the game’s last demonstration at PAX East 2020.

Watch the full playthrough below.

The most notable change for Baldur’s Gate III is its reworked combat system. Originally, the game was planned to be entirely based on the side initiative system from Dungeons and Dragons, and would have allowed players to plan the actions of its entire party before swapping over to the enemy.

However, the updated mechanics now combine both Dungeons and Dragons’ traditional and side initiative system, and follows an order-based approach for battles. Elements of the side initiative have been brought over to the hybrid system, and allows players to switch between party members who are stacked together in the queue or even combine abilities.

Another Dungeons and Dragons mechanic is also making its way to Baldur’s Gate III: Inspiration points. This allows players to re-roll a skill check, which occurs during dialogue screens and while exploring the world. However, the studio has yet to reveal how these points can be earned.

The playthrough also reveals re-written narrator lines, which was teased last week during Larian Studios’ Guerrilla Collective presentation. Baldur’s Gate III will now be narrated in present tense when players make dialogue decisions, as opposed to past tense.

Other features shown off in the presentation include the stealth mechanic, a number of UI changes and some monsters from the Dungeons and Dragons’ bestiary.

Larian Studios previously revealed that Baldur’s Gate III could enter early access as soon as this August. However, it also cautioned that the date is just a possibility as the studio’s working-from-home environment – due to the COVID-19 pandemic – has affected development.

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