The chief author of Larian had great doubts when he arrived at the Belgian studio: He feared that the studio’s best days were long gone and that he had missed them. He suspected that the Belgians would never create such a good RPG as Divinity Original Sin 2 again. Fortunately, he was wrong and created Baldur’s Gate 3.
This is the situation:
- Baldur’s Gate 3 was, as we know today, the Game of the Year 2023 and probably the best RPG in a long, long time, maybe since Skyrim.
- But during development, the developers often didn’t feel good about the whole thing.
- Now, the Writing Director Adam Smith tells this in an interview.
Maybe Divinity: Original Sin 2 was the best game Larian would ever make
This is what the author says: Smith says he was a fan of Larian before he joined the studio in the early stages of development of Baldur’s Gate 3. By then, he had already been playing games for 35 years.
In an interview with Game Pressure, he now reveals:
I thought that Divinity: Original Sin 2 was maybe the best game Larian had ever made. I thought: I’m the guy who comes in when the studio is on the decline. We could have really messed this up.
Fear of the Legacy
These were his doubts: Smith said he was afraid of the “legacy of Baldur’s Gate,” meaning he feared dishonoring the legacy of Baldur’s Gate and also of Larian. That was already intimidating.
The worst times came as the launch approached:
“You could see that it was so close to being brilliant, but it wasn’t yet. I mean: There were times when we looked at it and thought: It’s terrible.”
In retrospect, the developers seem to look at Baldur’s Gate 3 with much joy but also with humility and see what they have achieved.
Baldur’s Gate 3 and the developer Larian are considered in many ways an exception to the rule of game studios. The head of the studio has repeatedly spoken out in recent months and criticized flawed developments in the gaming industry: Developer of Baldur’s Gate 3 talks about mass layoffs: “This is just sick”
