Baldur’s Gate 3 already delivered a cast of companions strong enough to carry an entire fantasy RPG on their own, but Larian originally wanted to go even further. The studio had ideas for deeper bonds, a separate friendship system, more shared events, and an even richer web of interactions, only for development time to eventually force those plans back onto the cutting-room floor.

Few games have left as strong a mark on the industry as Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian Studios’ fantasy RPG has already been praised endlessly for its role-playing systems, its adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons universe, and its sweeping story, but now the spotlight has shifted to another of its strengths: the characters. Astarion, Karlach, Shadowheart, and the rest have already become unforgettable companions, yet the developers originally wanted to do even more with them.

More Character Bonds and Special Scenes Were Planned

Kevin VanOrd, one of Larian’s writers, revealed in an interview with Edge, later picked up by GamesRadar+, that a number of ideas ultimately never made it into the final game. According to him, Wyll in particular was one of the characters he wished had received more attention. “I wish we had done more with Wyll,” he admitted, before explaining that he would have loved to see a friendship system running alongside the romance system, one that would have allowed players to experience special events and social hangouts with companions. He also said it would have been great if the characters had been able to romance one another, not just the player.

Baldur’s Gate 3 already includes an enormous amount of scenes, dialogue, reactions, and character-driven cinematics, so Larian was hardly starting from a weak position. Even so, the studio originally wanted to push all of that much further and add even more conversations, even more situations, and even more memorable character moments to the fantasy RPG. In the end, however, development time simply became the limiting factor. VanOrd made that reality perfectly clear when he said, “We had so many great ideas that never made it into the game because of time constraints.”

That means fans can only imagine what that separate friendship system might have looked like, and how much deeper the relationships between companions could have become. At the same time, it also underlines just how important the characters were to Larian from the start, even if the studio was ultimately unable to realize every ambition it had for them.

The next major project related to Baldur’s Gate 3, however, will not be a new expansion or another game, but rather the upcoming HBO series, which will reportedly take place immediately after the events of the RPG. Very little has been confirmed about that adaptation so far, though one thing is already certain: Larian Studios will not be involved in its creation in any way.

Source: 3DJuegos