The latest entry in the Baldur’s Gate series is finally approaching its official release in August, and the publisher came up with several new tidbits just before Christmas.
In addition to a final update of the Early Access version – which, by the way, has received a lot of new cool – we got a new trailer during The Game Awards. You can see it on the right
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Larian Studios also revealed some details about the production that fans have been waiting for. Especially eagerly awaited was the reunion with the favorites from the original games, Jaheira and Minsc.
It’s good to hear Jaheira again. Tracy Wiles does a great job with the voice.
Larian Studios
The elven mentor figure Jaheira features prominently in the trailer, with her very distinct and recognizable accent perfectly rendered by Tracy Wiles. An experienced actor from British stage and television production, she has contributed to games such as Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Total War: Warhammer III, and Larian’s own Divinity: Original Sin.
She takes over the role from Heidi Shannon, who has apparently retired from acting – Shannon hasn’t had a visible role since 2001, when she starred in Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.
Minsc gets less of an introduction in the trailer, but in return gets a rather dramatic entrance – and the studio was quick to announce who will be taking over the job of voicing the warrior.
IN a tweet full of puns tells Larian Studios that D&D celeb Matthew Mercer is the new Minsc. They also included a video where Mercer himself tells how well he knows the game series, and how excited he is to give the role all the respect it deserves.
Matt Mercer is probably one of the most high profile people associated with the game so far. He is known from a multitude of games, such as Overwatch, League of Legends, Fortnite, Death Stranding, Persona, Kingdom Hearts, and much more. He is also one of the most prominent people in the Dungeons & Dragons community, as the creator behind the Actual Play series Critical Role and the related Amazon series The Legend of Vox Machina.
He takes over from Jim Cummings, who had the role in the first games.
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New elements in the game
The update of the game is going to be the last one before the game is finally finished and introduces several new elements to the game.
You can now play as a Paladin, with the Oath of Devotion and Oath of the Ancients subclasses available – plus the hidden Oathbreaker variant, which is what you get for breaking your oath. Thus, 11 of the 12 basic classes in D&D are in the game, so only the Monk is missing.
Larian Studios
Furthermore, the Level restriction in the Early Access version has been increased to level 5, giving magicians access to a new level of magic to play with.
This comes in handy as the game has also been expanded to include “reactions”, abilities that can be activated by other things happening in the game – including the powerful “Counterspell”, which allows you to deny enemy wizards from using their magic.
ALSO READ: Massive Baldur’s Gate 3 update introduces game’s next class »
It’s still only possible to play through the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3, but there’s a surprising amount to play with there already. And it isn’t so long until August, when the full version arrives.
Now we just have to find out who plays Boo.
