Here's 85 minutes of Baldur's Gate 3 gameplay to watch

Following Saturday's news that Baldur's Gate 3 will (maybe) launch in early access in August, developers Larian last night showed more of the fantasy RPG - and what's changed since we last saw it. Let's see... the narrator has switched to second-person, the initiative system has been tweaked, and hey look it's over an hour of new gameplay footage, there's loads in here.

Here's Baldur's Gate 3 game director Swen Vincke in the archived stream from yesterday's D&D Live 2020 event:

I have not been following BG3 too closely, beyond knowing that it's an unexpected 'return' of BioWare's fantasy RPG series built on Dungeons & Dragons dicerolls, so I could not see specific changes myself. For word on what's new, I turn you over to the official explanation:

• The narrator that will lead players through the game has changed to present tense/second person narration.
• Changes have been made to the initiative system. Previous gameplay showed the side initiative, which has evolved over the past month. Characters with similar individual initiative can now be grouped together automatically, which will allow the player to try out combinations and align their attack in a group initiative system. Other characters and enemies will have individual initiative
• Vincke showed the inspiration system for the first time. Inspiration points will allow the player to reroll one of their dice - a very valuable asset if the roll of the dice decides over life and death. These points are awarded to the player as a reward for finding special solutions during the playthrough.
• Reactivity to the player character: During the gameplay, Vincke played as a custom character elf, which showcased how the world reacts to who you are and - more importantly - which decision you have made in the past.

I see, I see, yes of course.

Disclosure: Our former Adam now works at Larian on... things? If an NPC insists I sing Billy Joel's Piano Man with them down the wizard karaoke, I'll know who wrote it.

Whatever you call it, hit our E3 2020 tag for more from this summer's blast of gaming announcements, trailers, and miscellaneous marketing. Check out the PC games at the PlayStation 5 show, everything at the PC Gaming Show, and all the trailers from the Xbox showcase, for starters.