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https://baldursgate3.game/
So it's been in early access release for a while, but the official release was first pushed up from October to September, and now from September to August (August 3, 2023). This game is generating a lot of anticipation due to the fact Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is regarded as one of the greatest RPGs in videogame history. They've also done a great job of putting out excellent non-gameplay cinematics promoting the game that rival the gold standard for cinematics in quality: those from World of Warcraft or Knights of the Old Republic.
But my feed pushed a headline today that raised an eyebrow:
Crikey, Baldur's Gate III Sounds Pretty Dang Long
So it's been in early access release for a while, but the official release was first pushed up from October to September, and now from September to August (August 3, 2023). This game is generating a lot of anticipation due to the fact Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is regarded as one of the greatest RPGs in videogame history. They've also done a great job of putting out excellent non-gameplay cinematics promoting the game that rival the gold standard for cinematics in quality: those from World of Warcraft or Knights of the Old Republic.
But my feed pushed a headline today that raised an eyebrow:
Crikey, Baldur's Gate III Sounds Pretty Dang Long
On Friday, Larian Studios announced its Dungeons & Dragons game would have its release date moved up from September to August, in part to avoid getting swarmed by other games in that same timeframe. The studio also revealed some interesting statistics in regards to its narrative: namely, that this is gonna be quite a long game. Just on its own, the game’s cinematics are said to be “over 170 hours.” The studio bragged that it was over double the length of HBO’s Game of Thrones. (According to VG247, the eight-season series had a runtime of 70 hours and 14 minutes.) Similarly, dialogue during those cinematics is said to be triple the length of all three Lord of the Rings novels combined...
Length-wise, the game itself is said to average around 75-100 hours for a single playthrough. Naturally, that number’s going to double if you try to do everything the game has to offer, and Larian head Swen Vincke admitted to IGN his belief that players will find a way to extend that playtime. Citing the popularity of the studio’s 2018 game Divinity: Original Sin II, he said that players who form online parties with other people will “take a year, a year-and-a-half. They will make their regular sessions where they play, like D&D.”
Larian hasn’t made a “forever game” in the sense that Baldur’s Gate III is a live-service title in the vein of say, Destiny or Final Fantasy XIV. But game is built in a way that players are able to drop the game, play something else for a bit, and come back some time later.