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Baldur's Gate 3 might be a sequel to the beloved RPG series, but it hasn't been entirely clear that it would be a story sequel, and the community has been asking about that ever since announcement. Today, fans got a far more definitive answer, as developer Larian revealed it would feature direct connections to the first game, including returning characters.
In a Reddit AMA on r/baldursgate, Larian founder Swen Vincke answered a question asking if the upcoming game's story will follow on from the first two games:
"We really don’t want to spoil anything but we wouldn’t call it Baldur’s Gate 3 if there wouldn’t be a link", he explained. "Let me just say that we touch upon the story of [Baldur's Gate] 1 & 2 in meaningful ways, there are returning characters and what happened in BG 1/2/[Throne of Bhaal] leads to what happens into BG3. You won’t necessarily see that at the start of the adventure but you will quickly understand once you get further into the game."
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It's proven a very popular answer, with multiple commenters saying it was the best one given in the AMA.
While it might seem clear that the third game in a series would follow up on the story of the first two games, the question arose from the Dungeons & Dragons setting it's based on, Forgotten Realms. In the two decades since the last game's release, Forgotten Realms has canonically shifted a century into the future - meaning Baldur's Gate 3 has too.
Initially, some wondered whether that meant BG3 would simply share a gameplay style and setting with the original games, but it seems that's not the case. Vincke didn't go into any more detail about connective story in the AMA, but we can assume that the likes of Minsc and Boo - who appeared in the original Baldur's Gate, and have since appeared in recent Forgotten Realms media - could be popping up along the way.
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We recently saw 2 hours of the game played, and that was enough to sell us on the (extremely complex) concept. If you're a D&D fan, we've got a guide to how the game is adapting the tabletop experience, and a rundown of how some Larian's coolest feature ideas are Stadia-exclusive.
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Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he remembers playing Baldur's Gate 1 mainly because of the fact that he had absolutely no idea how to play it when he was 9. Follow him on Twitter.