Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Understands The Act 3 Backlash

thegamer.com:

Baldur's Gate 3's third act gets a bad rap. At launch (and after a patch in November), it was a bit buggy, so that's fair, but now that the kinks have been ironed out, a lot of people are still put off by its tone, pacing, and structure. The in-depth city where any building could house secrets or quests is a far cry from the rough wilds of the first two acts, changing up how we explore and navigate this world, and Larian Studios is keenly aware of the controversy it brought about.

"Each act has its own flavour," senior RPG designer Anna Guxens said in an interview with Gamereactor. "Act 2 specifically has a very strong closing moment that just shuts down a whole area of it and then, starting off in Act 3, especially if you have so many hours in the rest of the game, can feel like a much different tone.

Fans on the subreddit are still, months later, arguing about Act 3, with some saying that the city is "too big" and "overwhelming", while others argue that it's "rewarding" and their "favourite" part of the game.

"I think it's valid because some people enjoy the tone of Act 3 the most, some people enjoy the tone of Act 2 the most. I understand how this shift is something that's challenging to overcome, but give it a chance."

While Act 3 does have its fans, Larian wants to avoid another radical shift between chapters in its next game. "It's something that we'd be mindful of moving forward as well of just seeing how we handle this tone shift so things are less drastic," Guxens added.

We don't know what Larian has cooking, but Baldur's Gate 3 lead Swen Vincke is already making significant headway in its planning. Earlier this week, he revealed that he figured out its first act, though of course he hasn't shed light on any