The opening act of Baldur’s Gate 3 will take players straight into Avernus, the first of the nine hells, and where they will find themselves at the center of a perpetual war between demons and devils. Baldur’s Gate 3 will make sure that players quickly come to terms with all that hell has to offer.
Speaking with PC Gamer magazine for the latest issue, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke stated that hell will have its own mechanics. Everything that players come across in Avernus will have repercussions when they get back to the surface. Hence, the main narrative as well as side quests and dynamically created situations will all work together to help players familiarize themselves with hell.
You’ll get a good sense of how the mechanics of Hell work. There’s an element of perpetual fear and competition. There’s a strict hierarchy and the absolute rule of holy law. It allows us to do interesting moral situations and quests, and we tie it all into what’s happening in the real world above. If you’ve accepted pacts that have been offered to you by devils throughout your adventure, that changes things a lot.
Vincke noted that Avernus will put players in moral dilemmas and often, players will be completely unaware of how their actions will impact down the road. As an example, Vincke revealed that Raphael, the devil shown in past gameplay footage, will at some point approach the player and their party members with an offer. The player will never know what their party members said yes to and even for secondary playthroughs, the devil will change his offers. Baldur’s Gate 3 will have several of these dynamic events which will endanger not only the player but also their party members.
The consequences of that play out when you get to hell. You don’t necessarily know if you still have fully loyal party members by then.
The important bit here being what players decide to agree on. Making a deal with the devil seldom turns out right, but players my choose to give their souls in return for something great. However, even then, Vincke has to remind fans that they should read the contract carefully before saying anything.
They [Devils] have a whole code of laws, and when you make a pact, the pact is holy. You have to be very careful about the wording of the contract.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was supposed to start its early access this month before the developer announced a slight delay. The early access is now pegged for the end of September with a chance of dropping further back into October.
