The writer of Baldur’s Gate 3 revealed, among other things, that the game almost returned to the location of the classic franchise.

Baldur’s Gate 3 lead writer Adam Smith revealed that Larian strongly considered taking players back to a classic location from the first part of the series. While BG3 has plenty of places to explore all over the world, bringing this location back would have been a great trip back in time for longtime fans of the franchise.

Larian’s latest RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3, is still one of the biggest hits of 2023 and is still being played by many people.

His attention to detail has been praised by players and critics alike. The game has won numerous Game of the Year awards across the industry. Since release, the folks at Larian have been pretty open about the features that didn’t make it into the finished game, which is refreshing. Recently, Swen Wincke revealed that the journey to the afterlife was cut from BG3, which would have been interesting to see come to fruition. While it’s sad to know that players almost got it, you have to understand that content is cut from nearly every game, and it’s rare for a developer to be as open about it as Larian.

In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Baldur’s Gate 3 lead writer Adam Smith confirmed that Larian strongly considered bringing back Candlekeep. This is the area where players experience the prologue of the original game. The plans came about because “there is something interesting about that kind of library dungeon,” and he called the idea “very, very attractive” to have such a massive place in the history of Baldur’s Gate present in the game.

Since Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place much later than the original game, it would certainly have been interesting to revisit where it all began.

Baldur’s Gate 3 almost returned to Candlekeep

The idea of revisiting Candlekeep in Baldur’s Gate 3 was eventually scrapped. Smith cited a few reasons why. “The biggest problem was that geographically, it’s on the way to Baldur’s Gate. So it’s like, are we going to stop on the way there? Are we going to go in and then come back out again, how are we going to position it like that?” He also expressed an interesting opinion about whether Candlekeep is really relevant to the story: “There’s a point where it becomes like, well, is this content for the sake of content? I hate the word ‘content’, but you know – is it actually adding to the story and the journey I’m on, where I am in my adventure?” For Larian, the answer was clearly no.

Smith raised a bunch of interesting questions in the interview about why Candlekeep wasn’t included in Baldur’s Gate 3, and in the end, it seems like it was for the best.

Revisiting the old locations of the franchise provides a strong nostalgia experience. It is also important to make sense in the narrative. BG3 had one of the best video game stories of 2023. Precisely because everything makes sense, and nothing seems forced. Larian seems to have done everything right with his latest release, and long may he continue to do so with his next projects.

Source: Rock Paper Shotgun