In one interesting addition, you can switch into a turn-based mode outside of combat as well, allowing you to set up stealth attacks and dodge traps with a high level of strategy. Differing from Divinity, when a fight starts, the game provides clearer information on which party has the initiative (which means who gets to go first).

There's no option for real-time-with-pause, another popular style of RPG interaction. In Baldur's Gate 3, combat is strictly turn-based, much like in Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel. Here are some of the details I gleaned during this eyes-on but hands-off demo session. Traps can be dodged using turn-based strategy. No idea what that means? Turn in your nerd card right now (or read more about Original Sin 2 here). That's because game developer Larian, maker of both the latter, a hit 2017 RPG, and this new game, is doing what it does best - building a fully 3D fantasy world where a team of adventurers take on quests and battles from an isometric view. To answer the most burning big-picture question, based on the first hour-plus of gameplay I saw at a recent demo session in New York, the game is about 20% Baldur's Gate and about 80% Divinity: Original Sin 2.

When you tell people you're going to see a couple of hours of prerelease live gameplay from Baldur's Gate 3, you quickly find out who the old-school fans of CRPGs (that's computer roleplaying games for you Gen Zers) in the office are.

The questions came over Slack almost immediately.

Baldurs gate 3 combat