The incredible success of Baldur’s Gate 3 means that Baldur’s Gate 4 is inevitable. However, the existing three games have set up certain story expectations that will hinder what the fourth entry can accomplish.
All we know about Baldur’s Gate 4 is that Larian Studios, the team behind its predecessor, won’t be involved. Larian decided not to make any DLC for Baldur’s Gate 3 or work on a sequel, as they’re moving onto a wholly original project.
The team behind the next Baldur’s Gate will have some massive shoes to fill, and they’re already going to be facing restrictions about what the story can involve, thanks to a storyline spread across three earlier titles.
When does it start/stop being a Baldur’s Gate game?
Baldur’s Gate is a massive city in D&D’s Forgotten Realms campaign setting. In the first and third games, you uncovered a plot that led you to the city, culminating in epic battles that decided the fate of the world.
While Baldur’s Gate 2 didn’t feature the iconic location, it was a direct continuation of the first game’s events, where the player could bring over their original character via a save file. The events in the city are vital to the lore, especially once you reach the Throne of Bhaal DLC.
Once we get to Baldur’s Gate 4, it’s expected that the city will once again play an important role in the story. After all, it’s in the name.
Baldur’s Gate 4 will have to involve the metropolis in some capacity, limiting the storytelling possibilities. We’ve already seen this in the Baldur’s Gate Descent into Avernus prequel adventure to Baldur’s Gate 3, which had a segment in the city before you travel to the Nine Hells (aka, the interesting bit of the adventure), where you do standard D&D stuff, as you had to go to the city to justify the title.
It’s a huge shame that D&D’s biggest video game franchises are tied to location names, as Neverwinter Nights and Icewind Dale suffer the same problem. If someone wanted to make a third entry in those series, they would also need to factor in the location.
Because if Baldur’s Gate 4 doesn’t involve the city, then why is it in the name? Has the series reached the point where it has transcended its namesake?
You could just have a game where the characters start off in the city and are then whisked off to a new locale, but at that point, is it even a Baldur’s Gate game anymore?
Putting in a massive fantasy city also has other drawbacks. Larian put a ton of work into its iteration of Baldur’s Gate, which even had huge limitations. Fans are still mad that the Upper City wasn’t featured prominently, despite it being part of the first game.
Baldur’s Gate can fill a similar role to many fantasy cities, and the long gap between visits in the video game world means fans were happy to revisit it in 2023. If it will be a huge go-to hub in future D&D content and video games, then it’s going to wear out its welcome quickly.
Does Bhaal always have to tie into things?
The other element that runs across all three Baldur’s Gate games is Bhaal, the Lord of Murder.
In Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, the story revolves around Bhaal’s plot to return to life through his many children. Meanwhile, in Baldur’s Gate 3, he’s part of a bigger plan to use the Netherbrain while also potentially being involved with the player character.
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The presence of the Dead Three (Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul) in Baldur’s Gate 3 did give us some good villains (even if Orin’s shapeshifting plot is a bit underbaked), but they took something away from the Mind Flayers. This game showed how terrifying the Illithids can be, yet we spend most of the game dealing with more conventional villains.
The Dark Urge has some amazing story beats, but it leans heavily on content from the previous games, right down to bringing back the Slayer form from Baldur’s Gate 2. Naturally, the devs couldn’t reuse the same plot from the first game (as Bhaal is alive again), so we have this strange reimagining of the idea, where Bhaal makes yet another child to further his devious schemes.
Now, D&D characters love to kill things, so there’s always room to include the god of murder, but is his presence so vital that future Baldur’s Gate games need to include him? Larian Studios certainly believed so, and the gap between entries means that it didn’t feel too obnoxious. But will that hold true in Baldur’s Gate 4?
The Forgotten Realms have many great villains, especially among the gods, like Tiamat and Cyric, and it would have been awesome to see them get the spotlight in Baldur’s Gate 3. Frankly, Shar could have carried the game alone, but the Dead Three took up a huge role instead.
While the city of Baldur’s Gate can’t really be avoided in Baldur’s Gate 4, Bhaal can be. He’s had a ton of time as a prominent character (even when he was dead for two games), and the next entry should leave him behind.
The Forgotten Realms is a big place – let’s go explore it!
All locations in the three Baldur’s Gate games are set across a tiny part of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The massive city is just a dot on a map.
My biggest desire for Baldur’s Gate 4 is for us to visit places from the books that haven’t been seen in the modern games: the city of Menzoberranzan in the Underdark that’s ruled by evil drow, the land of Thay with its evil ruling class of wizards, or the jungles of Maltara with its snake people.
We got to briefly visit the island of Chult in Baldur’s Gate 3, which could easily be the focus of a full video game. It’s got undead dinosaurs: what else do you need?
Baldur’s Gate 4 could also redeem the city of Myth Drannor, which was the focus of one of the worst D&D games ever made. Let us retcon the awful decision in D&D that led to the city being destroyed and let players bring it back, killing two birds with one stone.
I’d love to see D&D games that explore places outside of the Forgotten Realms. The Dragonlance campaign setting is perfect for a game, as it’s centered on massive worldwide conflicts involving dragons. Meanwhile, we still haven’t received a Planescape Torment sequel, despite the love many fans have for that game.
However, the Forgotten Realms are the most popular D&D setting, so it’s understandable why Wizards of the Coast would want to prioritize it. That means it’s going to appear in lots of games in the future.
This means that we’re going to see Baldur’s Gate 4, and we’ll go back to the city, which is a shame. There’s an entire world full of adventure, but name recognition means we’re going to be tied to the same old streets.
I love the city of Baldur’s Gate, but I also know there was a nostalgia baked into that feeling when I returned in Baldur’s Gate 3. Chances are, there won’t be another twenty-year gap between entries, and those streets will become all too familiar all too soon.
