Summary
Baldur’s Gate 3has become one of the biggest releases of the decade so far, and the quality of its adaptation of theDungeons and Dragons’ Forgotten Realms setting is one of its major strengths. From its initial wilderness to the titular city,Baldur’s Gate 3has delivered a compelling fantasy world that is likely to be remembered for years to come along with causing some players to dream of what could come next from Larian Studios.
The base game ofBaldur’s Gate 3is already massive, with the game’s three acts easily capable of taking players over 100 hours to fully complete if they wish to attempt to experience all the content.The Lower City of Baldur’s Gateis the densest portion of the entire game and nothing short of impressive in terms of its variety of NPCs and building interiors, quickly becoming a favorite area of fans despite the performance issues its ambitious nature can cause. With discussion of a future DLC expansion underway in the community, Faerun’s city of Waterdeep has begun to come up as a potential location players could one day explore following the precedent set by Baldur’s Gate.
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Faerun’s City of Waterdeep
The original home ofBG3companion Gale, Waterdeep is sure to be familiar to players who have learned about his tragic backstory and fall from grace as a mighty Wizard. Known as the City of Splendors, Waterdeep is a far more large and prosperous city to the north of Baldur’s Gate along the Sword Coast. With a population of up to two million compared to the over one hundred thousand of Baldur’s Gate, Waterdeep is far more of a quintessential city to the residents of Faerun. A major hub of commerce and art alike, it’s only natural that someone like Gale would originate from a place of such sophistication.
A major location throughout much ofDungeons and Dragons’ world-building, Waterdeep has connections to several concepts referenced throughoutBaldur’s Gate 3. Many key events during the Time of Troubles that saw the pantheon of Faerun change wildly as gods were made mortal took place in the city, with deities likeBG3’s Mystrarising to godhood during this chaos. With factions like a thieves’ guild founded by a conniving Beholder named Xanathar and the city government’s own elite Force Grey, Waterdeep is one ofDungeons and Dragons’ best urban locations despite hardly ever appearing in video game adaptations.
Waterdeep is the Perfect Expansion for Baldur’s Gate 3
Rumors ofBG3’s cut Upper City contenthave caused some fans to begin speculating about a future expansion related to Baldur’s Gate, but the city of Waterdeep could one day serve to deliver even more. Between its multiple districts and own underground secrets, Waterdeep is capable of providing everything that the Lower City brought to the table in spades. While it may suffer from the same problem of being so inherently massive and dense that any developer would struggle to bring it into a game, even breaking it down into just one portion of the greater establishment could serve to exceed the entire portion of Baldur’s Gate players have explored.
The prospect of seeing Waterdeep realized with the same fidelity as the Lower City is a dream to manyDungeons and Dragonsfans, but if any studio is capable of making it happen it would be Larian.Baldur’s Gate 3took over five years to develop, however, and the reality of properly creating a city with such depth is an undertaking that few developers are equipped for. Despite the challenges involved, aBG3DLC expansionin Waterdeep would likely be nothing short of a love letter to fans of Gale and Faerun’s lore alike.
Baldur’s Gate 3is out now for PC and PS5 with an Xbox Series X/S version in development.
