The iconic city has a long history on the tabletop and in videogames, and it’s full of secrets.
The release of Baldur’s Gate 3 is imminent, and if there’s a single star at the heart of Larian Studios new CRPG, it’s neither Minsc nor his size-defying hamster Boo, but the namesake city itself. The metropolis where we once parlayed with thieves and sold metric tons of bandit gear to anyone who would take it is a venerable setting for a new roleplaying adventure, but how well do we really know the most famous city of the world of Faerûn? As I’ve refamiliarised myself with my old haunts, I’ve learned and remembered a variety of things that might help prepare for our return to an old and treasured city. This will be the first time we’ve seen the videogame version of Baldur’s Gate since Dark Alliance 2
It’s been a long time since Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn released back in 2000—and its Throne of Bhaal expansion pack in 2001—and almost as long for Baldur’s Gate itself, which last showed up in the spinoff Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 in 2004. While nearly two decades is a long time, and a whole lot has changed in the world of videogames, in the world of Faerûn it’s been a lot longer. In total, over 120 years have passed since the events of Baldur’s Gate 2, and thanks to the sudden appearance of mind flayers and dragons, the city is in turmoil.
Honestly, though, turmoil might be its natural state—after all, when we last saw it in Dark Alliance 2, it was in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Baldur’s Gate is located on the Sword Coast, a region with serious PC game history
A stretch of coast along the Sea of Swords, the Sword Coast is home to some powerful cities that have a loose coalition called the Lords’ Alliance. The Baldur’s Gate series rambled all over the Sword Coast region—especially in the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion—but there have been other iconic PC games set in the region.
The city of Neverwinter was host to both Neverwinter Nights games from the teams at Bioware and Obsidian, each of which was renowned for the custom tool sets they provided. Many budding dungeon masters will remember fondly long hours spent creating their own campaigns in the game for others to be subjected to. It was also a major location in the recent D&D film, Honor Among Thieves.
Reaching back even further to the dawn of the PC, 1991’s Eye of the Beholder from Westwood (yes, the same Westwood that would release Command & Conquer four years later) was set under the city of Waterdeep.
