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In the 20 years since the last mainline entry in the Baldur’s Gate franchise launched, we’ve seen some hit-or-miss expansions, “enhanced” editions of the originals, and plenty of other digital adventures based in the Forgotten Realms of D&D lore – but none have found a place in audiences’ hearts quite like BioWare’s original games.

Now, after two decades, three full editions of tabletop rules, and more than 100 years in-fiction, the banner has finally been passed on to Larian Studios, of Divinity series fame, for Baldur’s Gate 3. The studio – which was told by D&D parent company Wizards of the Cost that they were “too green” until they launched Divinity 2 – is doing its damndest to create a sequel that takes the spirit of the original games and evolves it for a new generation of gaming.

“We want it to be the best game we’ve ever made, but we also want it to be the best Baldur’s Gate game possible,” says Larian’s Senior Writer Adam Smith in a recent interview with IGN, explaining that to do so, the team is focused on not only modernizing Baldur’s Gate for new audiences, but pushing the boundaries current of RPGs as well, rather than just making another Baldur’s Gate with fancier graphics. “Baldur’s Gate wouldn’t have been the success that it was – critically, commercially, or in terms of reviving what a CRPG could be,” Smith says, “if it hadn’t been looking forward. And so Baldur’s Gate 3 has to do the same.”

Historical Continuity

That doesn’t mean that Larian is just scrapping all of the lore established by Baldur’s Gate I & II, though. The team is looking at everything that happens up until the end of Baldur’s Gate 2 as canonical history. ”No one’s ever going to know if you picked the pocket of that one innkeeper,” Smith laughs. “But everything that happened, happened.”

The city’s changed, Smith continues, and they’ve had fun looking at what would have happened, politically or socially, in the gap between games. “So we look at all of that, but [the gap between games] is enough time to give us a clean slate for new characters. Although some of them have long memories, as well,” he adds, wryly.

It is a relatively traditional fantasy setting, after all. Elves, for example, regularly live well into their 700s, so it’s entirely possible that characters – even our own, given the options available during creation – would remember the Bhaalspawn crises, or that we’ll see characters like Kivan or Coran or make a return in Larian’s take on the Sword Coast. “One of the interesting things,” Smith says, “is for some people that’s ancient history, for some people, it’s recent history… We’re 100 years later, but that’s not a long time for a deity.”

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The team is also pulling from more current events, as well. The studio’s recent Panel from Hell stream detailed not just the Early Access release date and content, but also the how Baldur’s Gate 3 adapts parts of the most recent D&D tabletop adventure, Descent into Avernus, and the impact of those events have on the story of BG3. “[Avernus] was a very, very lovely thing for us to have,” said Smith. “Like, [the D&D team said to us] ‘Okay, so, you’ve got all the stuff that you’re thinking about over in Baldur’s Gate. Uh, something just happened over here, as well.’ And we’re like, ‘Lovely.’”

“There’s always gonna be things happening in the Forgotten Realms that are cataclysmic,” he says, “because that’s where a lot of the things impel adventure come from. It’s, ‘How do I save this catastrophe?’ or ‘How do I instigate this catastrophe?’” he chuckles. “That’s often what adventures do… So we start off somewhere in the middle of that. You’ll see the effect of it, just like you’ll see the effect of BG1 and 2… There’s something quite liberating about telling a story and then being like, ‘Oh, I have all this supporting material that gives you different angles that you not necessarily have come up with yourself.”

The Essence of Baldur’s Gate

Throughout development, the team have focused heavily on  finding what’s at the “core” of the Baldur’s Gate experience. “I think if you ask 20 different Baldur’s Gate fans, then you get 20 different answers,” Smith laughs.

 For Smith,  it seems to boil down to a trusty few factors – the first one being tone. Baldur’s Gate always managed to blend a bunch of different styles together, rather than placing all its chips on one fantasy subgenre or another. “I see people talk about the darkness of Baldur’s Gate,” he says. “And it’s absolutely something that we want to bring out. But Baldur’s Gate was very, very lighthearted and strange and silly and bizarre in places, as well. And that’s really a quality that I think separates it from a lot of other RPGs. It is tonally all over the place and it hits its beats so, so well.

“Occasionally it wants to be romantic, and it’s very good at being romantic. Occasionally it wants to be darkly romantic, occasionally it wants to have fun. There are characters that are so cartoonish and strange, and they coexist alongside torture and horror… and getting all those things to sit well together, I think, is part of what Baldur’s Gate is.”

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The biggest pieces of the Baldur’s Gate puzzle, though, are  unanimously agreed upon: one is your relationship to your adventuring party, and another  is how your decisions and actions impact those relationships and the world around you – and vice versa. “Some of my favorite moments in Baldur’s Gate are party interactions,” says Smith, “and I think BG2 improved on them massively. That sense of ‘it really matters what I do and it really matters what they think of me’. And that was hugely important. You can really piss people off, and you can let people down… it’s all these emotional things which are very powerful.”

It’s all about  knowing who you can trust, knowing who you can rely on, continues Smith, and that sense of striving for a common goal as a group. “Pulling together and fighting against the things in yourself that aren’t necessarily good for you, or good for anybody else. And that’s a huge part of what we wanna do.”

Relationship Building

So, what does it take to incorporate all these pillars of a classic franchise and deliver a sequel that fans will appreciate and Larian is proud of? According to Smith, it’s about doing everything they can to replicate the reactivity of the tabletop experience, harkening back to the idea that BG3 is a D&D game where Larian is your Dungeon Master. “We have some advantages over a flesh and blood DM in the sense of the things we can conjure and the way that we can display things.”

What they don’t have, however, is the ability to react immediately to players like an in-person game master. To rout this issue, the team relies on adding an almost absurdly complex amount of systemic story branches based on your decision-making. “If you play Tabletop,” he continues, “then you know that players will deviate from the best laid plans. So, as a DM – or as a writer on Baldur’s Gate III – we’re saying, ‘I have a very clear story that I wanna tell. It has all these points that I wanna hit.’ and you’re gonna trample through some of them, you’re gonna deviate from some of them. You’re gonna throw curve balls at me, so we’re reacting to about as much as you can.”

The key is to blur the line between the quest hooks or planned moments and the choices that players are making for themselves. So  Larian will offer players story beats, but (after the tutorial) avoids sections that feel like they’re on rails. “We never want to take away control and say, ‘This is the story bit,’” says Smith. “The story bit is also the bit where [a player might say], ‘Hey, I might wanna steal from this guy,’ or, ‘This guy’s got a quest, but how does he react iif he suddenly wants to give me something, but one of my partners has stolen it from him?’ So, you’re always looking at these things and saying, ‘How do we make sure that the characters react in a believable way to the crazy things that the players might have done? There are things that I am super proud of, personally, that if I look at the Venn diagram of who’s gonna experience them, it’s just so small,” he laughs.

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The team is also very focused on maintaining the personal relationship players had with their companions and the NPCs throughout the world in the originals, hoping to immerse the player enough that they make choices that they normally wouldn’t. Not necessarily out of a decision to do a “good” or “evil” playthrough, but to affect their choices through the world and its characters. “I hope this doesn’t sound like a terrible to say,” Smith starts, “but I’d feel very, very good about writing a situation or a character where people get into it and think, ‘You know what? I don’t want to be a vengeful person, but fuck that guy,’ and they pull the trigger. I want people to get into those situations where the player thinks ‘In all good consciousness, I think I have to do something that I wouldn’t normally do’… and then seeing what those consequences are.”

Community Feedback

We (hopefully) won’t have to wait too much longer to see how these situations play out. On the development side, it sounds like new ideas and changes to existing content (in addition to everything still listed as “work-in-progress”) are constant.

“We iterate constantly,” Smith says. “We never say, ‘Okay, that’s good. Put it to one side.’ We’re constantly looking at things and trying to improve them; every day we’re better at making this game.”

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Come October (and sure, technically the last day of September), Smith’s team – and the rest of the Larian crew –  will start taking suggestions from players as they continue to refine the systems and develop the game beyond the first act that makes up the early access build. It’s the first time in nearly two decades that people will get their hands on a new Baldur’s Gate – which amounts to a lot of pressure, to be sure. But Smith says the team isn’t worried, largely because of how far they’ve come already.

“We know that we’re making something that we’re already happy with,” he says. “Part of it is just being lucky that you work with incredibly talented people, and part of it is just being willing to adapt and to change when something doesn’t work. To say, ‘You know what? That one doesn’t work. Throw it away. Start again. Do this one instead. Try it a different way.’ And we’re all really good at that.”

For more on Baldur’s Gate 3, check out all the details we learned from the Summer of Gaming demo, or if you’ve got some time to kill why not watch a full hour-long gameplay presentation.

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JR is a Senior Editor at IGN, and is very much looking forward to infuriating his BG3 party members with his terrible decision making. You can cheer him on (or scold him appropriately) on Twitter. He also urges you to donate to the ACLU or NAACPLDF if you’re able.

Hitman 3 is a launch exclusive for the Epic Games Store on PC, developer IO Interactive announced today.

Hitman 3 was revealed back in the June PS5 reveal event, where it was announced that the game would be coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC in January 2021. We now know that the game will launch exclusively for PC on the Epic Games Store in January – the implication being that this is a timed deal.

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“Epic Games and IO Interactive today are excited to announce that Hitman 3 will launch exclusively on the Epic Games Store when it releases in January 2021,” IO Interactive said. “Additionally, from August 27 through September 3, 2016’s critically-acclaimed Hitman will be completely free for players to download and keep.”

IO Interactive will self-publish the game and it said doing this is a “big step” for the company in “achieving [its] highly ambitious goals as an independent studio,” according to IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak. He said this partnership with Epic Games has given the studio the “freedom to create the game exactly as we imagined, for our fans and for our community uncompromised.”

“For our long-term fans that have supported us on the World of Assassination journey, we’re happy to have mastery and location carry over from their existing progress into Hitman 3 on Epic Games Store.”

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IGN reached out to IO Interactive asking if and how players will be able carry save data from Hitman 1 and 2 on Steam into their Epic Games Store version of Hitman 3. The developer responded by saying, “In the coming months, we’ll share precise details about how location and progression carryover will work.”

For more Hitman 3, check out the modes that have been revealed so far and read about how PvP multiplayer modes like Ghost Mode will be shutting down. Then, read about how the entire Hitman trilogy will be playable in VR.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

The Halo Infinite gameplay reveal sparked the imagination of many players, inspiring guitar covers, video recreations, and a playable version built in Halo 5‘s Forge. When we first reported on that last one, it was still in the works–but it’s already complete.

Ducain23, a level creator who said that he spent “about 30-40 hours” working on this playable Halo Infinite recreation, has made a full recreation of the demo, and you can try it yourself. You can download the level through Halo Waypoint, and Ducain23 has plenty of other builds on his account, too.

The creator shows off his level in the video below, and chats about the process. There are two versions of the map–an “aesthetic” map that you can explore, and a “race” map, where you drive around and do a “lap” of the map.

There’s also a comparison video, showing his Forge map against the demo video.

Ducain23 is also planning to recreate the demo within Far Cry 5‘s level editor, which he says is more flexible.

Following a delay, Halo Infinite will arrive for Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC in 2021.

The Halo Infinite rumor mill kicked into high gear recently with a report that claimed to offer some inside information about the development of the game and some of the issues going on behind the scenes. Microsoft released an official statement that denies on element of the report, that production on the Halo TV show has negatively impacted Halo Infinite, and now Halo’s community director has addressed another part of the story.

Writing on Reddit, Halo community director Brian Jarrard responded to the conjecture about how Microsoft considered splitting up Halo Infinite’s campaign and multiplayer elements and releasing them individually.

An initial report from Brad Sams stated that Halo Infinite’s campaign mode would launch in Fall 2020 with multiplayer coming later. Xbox boss Phil Spencer appeared on the Animal Crossing TV show and seemingly lent credence to this rumor, but that isn’t entirely accurate, Jarrard said.

Spencer said in the interview that Microsoft briefly considered splitting up campaign and multiplayer before making the call to move the entire product to 2021.

Regarding Sams’ original reporting and Spencer’s comments more recently, Jarrard said “these are not the same things. At all.”

“Sams’ unsubstantiated ‘report’ in late July was 100% false and no such plan or discussion had ever happened. Campaign was never going to ship without MP, period,” Jarrard said. “More recently, as it became clear that the project needed more time, part of that assessment did entail trying to see if perhaps just MP could launch as planned but was deemed a non-starter. So even if that would’ve been the outcome, it’s the opposite of what was reported in late July.”

Jarrard said he wouldn’t normally choose to comment on rumor and speculation, but he was getting “personally implicated” so he decided to weigh in.

“People can, and will, make up whatever stories they want but I have to draw the line at being personally implicated as being dishonest with the community,” Jarrard said. “I may not always be allowed to say what I want to say (for example I’m probably not allowed to really get into a point by point response to this article), but I will always speak the truth.”

Halo Infinite is now coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC at an unspecified date in 2021. The multiplayer portion of the game will be free-to-play, and that could be a very big deal for the future of Halo.

Halo Infinite would have marked the first time since the original Halo in 2001 that a new Halo game launched with Xbox hardware. However, Microsoft chose to delay Halo Infinite to 2021, missing the launch of the Xbox Series X, due in part to complications related to working from home during the pandemic.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is like watching a baseball game that only gets exciting in the bottom of the ninth. It’s a puzzle game set against the clock that unfortunately only begins to hit its stride as your time with it time runs out. While introducing some fresh time-bending and puzzle mechanics, it regularly fails to combine them into a satisfying mix. A challenging final couple of chapters ultimately save Mastermind, but never quite elevates it to the excitement of its source material.

Based on the hit BBC crime drama, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind takes place prior to the events of Season 1 as the Shelby family (also known as the Peaky Blinders) attempt to assert their dominance over the Small Heath area of Birmingham. The cast’s likenesses are all fairly spot on and are instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with the show; among them are Cillian Murphy (complete with his signature flat cap) and Helen McCrory, radiating quiet authority. Not that she has a choice, that is – there’s no spoken dialogue in Mastermind, which doesn’t help fully recreate the tone of the series. Of course, I’d take having to read over a poor imitation of the actors any day.

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There’s something slightly off about the conversations had between characters, though. The phrasing doesn’t quite ring true and the tone that the family members take towards each other isn’t entirely recognisable. Exchanges often resemble children’s storybook characters more than they do hardened criminals. The story is definitely not kid-friendly, however, as it revolves around a conspiracy that the Peaky Blinders are at the centre of as a web of violence, deceit, and revenge is uncovered. It’s by no means a riveting tale, but a serviceable one with comic book panel-like cutscenes that glues its puzzle box levels together.

There are 10 missions in total that took me around four or five hours to complete on my first playthrough, most of which take place in the cobblestone streets under the shadows of brick warehouses of industrial 1919 Birmingham. The atmosphere of the show is well reproduced in the environments even if some of the levels fail to stand out from one another due to the re-use of assets. Each of these missions consist of completing a series of objectives within a time limit while controlling one of the six playable members of the gang.

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The scampish Finn can crawl through small gaps and open windows, the burlish Arthur can kick down doors and brawl with enemies, and the cunning Ada who can distract police so others characters can pass by. These abilities offer variety for each character but ultimately all boil down to the same one-press button prompt to interact with items. The objectives can occasionally produce satisfying moments where you manage to successfully sync up the gang’s actions, but at the same time a lot of these can fall flat, especially when certain scenarios are reproduced more than once.

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The main gameplay consists of puzzle solving mixed with some very light stealth mechanics as some anachronistic indie rock soundtracks your steps. The idea is to get each of your protagonists in the right place at the right time to aid each other, whether that be by using a lever to open a door, or by beating up a guard so that characters unable to fight can pass. This is mainly achieved through trial and error, though, rather than actual planning. You’ll largely be moving a character to a point in the level where they can’t progress, then using the rewind mechanic to get another to a point where they can assist the first character — a system that may strike a chord with those who played 2017’s The Sexy Brutale. The issue is that there’s no penalty for rewinding, so if you take a wrong step or get caught in an enemy’s cone of vision it’s no big deal. It’s a bit like playing chess against an opponent who allows you to go back a few turns if you think you made a mistake.

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It can be a little unrewarding, especially in the earlier hours, which feel like an overextended tutorial at times and only offer a couple of minorly head-scratching moments to earn satisfaction from. It’s a shame it takes so long to ramp up, because when all the cogs eventually go into motion Peaky Blinders: Mastermind becomes a completely different experience and one that provides an enjoyable challenge.

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Mission 8 was the turning point for me — that’s where things got a lot more interesting. Up until then you’re only controlling two or three of the characters at once for the vast majority of your time, and mainly in very similar looking locations. You’re regularly given simple puzzles to solve, such as open this door or pull this lever while sidestepping past a dozy guard, which quickly becomes dull and repetitive. A highlight of these earlier levels, though, was when I had to infiltrate a prison using Tommy, Arthur, and John by crawling through sewer networks and intricately evading guards while in the precinct.

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In Mission 8, though, elements of Tommy Shelby’s psychological mindset are brought into play in interesting ways as he is haunted by his experience serving in the First World War. It forces you to play this specific level slightly differently to others and favours the stealth elements over its core puzzle box mentality. The same can’t be said for the final two missions, but they take place on a much grander scale. This is where I found most of my fun with Mastermind.

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The main reason why these two sprawling maps are so good is that they require you to use upwards of 5 members of the gang for the first time, syncing them all up to create chain reactions throughout the city. It was genuinely thrilling trying to move my pieces around the streets in time to cut off my target from walking down an alleyway by moving a horse and cart. What seems a simple proposition at first, becomes an intricate series of events you have to trigger in order to get your desired result.

These puzzles were more challenging and coordinating everyone became much less of a cakewalk than previously, so much that I had to rewind several times and rethink my strategy. Even when eventually completing it I barely scraped a bronze medal time, which had me eager to go back and try again to somehow shave over nearly a minute off to get the gold ranking. This medal system, along with a few customarily littered collectible pocket watches, offers a level of replayability to each mission, albeit a very limited amount.

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Similarly, the final mission requires you to set off around Small Heath and split up your team to get the job done. It cranks up the difficulty slightly without ever becoming obtuse and wraps up the solid, though not surprising story in a satisfying way. These last two levels are what I wanted Peaky Blinders: Mastermind to be for its entirety: a challenging set of puzzle boxes that uses the whole gang set against a backdrop of mystery and intrigue. It’s unfortunate that you only get about an hour or so of that at the very end.

 

Danganronpa 2 has followed the first game and come to mobile devices. The sequel, which follows on directly from the original (which you’ll definitely want to play first), is now available on iOS and Android phones and tablets. It costs $16, and the controls have been optimized for touch screens.

Whereas the first game was set inside a school, the second takes place on a tropical resort, and goes to some very weird places across its story. The player character, Hajime Hinata, has amnesia, and part of the story involves piecing his memories back together. Some characters from the first game also return.

Without spoiling too much, if you like the first game, this one is perhaps even better–and weirder. As before, it’s split between first-person adventure-style segments and trials, where you try to solve the murders of your fellow students.

For more information, check out GameSpot’s 8/10 review of the PS Vita version. Danganronpa V3 is set to follow with a mobile release at a later date.

Some of the Danganronpa titles will soon be unavailable to purchase on PS Vita and PS4, but hopefully not for long–Spike Chunsoft has recently taken over the series’ publishing rights.