Baldur's Gate 3 Opening Cinematic Revealed

Larian Studios introduces an exhilarating cinematic for Baldur's Gate 3 at PAX East, featuring dragons, mind flayers, and creepy larvae.

The opening cinematic for Baldur's Gate 3 was officially revealed during Larian Studios' PAX East panel today, and it's as wildly fun as fans would hope. It's been established through previous teasers for the game and promotional material that mind flayers (aka illithid, a classic D&D monster) would be the main villain for Baldur's Gate 3, but the opening cinematic takes everything to a whole new level.
Baldur's Gate 3 is ramping up for an early access release later this year, and its entire PAX East presentation was far more than just the cinematic, with over an hour of time devoted to Larian's gameplay reveal. However, the cinematic is certainly a highlight from the event, and also gives fans a better idea of what their player character's connection to the plot will be.

Based on the Baldur's Gate 3 cinematic, players are going to have quite the task ahead of them when it comes to extracting the mind flayer tadpole that--right at the beginning of the trailer--gets planted in their heads. As it turns out, the mind flayers of Baldur's Gate 3 are doing a fair bit more than just attacking people; the first half of the cinematic shows one illithid going through the tadpole implantation process, right before it pilots a horrifying tentacled flying vessel into the city of Baldur's Gate and begins kidnapping more citizens. There's an intense eldritch horror vibe throughout the scene, quickly transformed into excitement after dragon-riding githyanki burst through a portal and join the fray.

Altogether, the cinematic is beautifully designed and utterly entertaining as it sets the scene for players to begin playing the game. Fans of the old Baldur's Gate games should definitely get a kick out of it, paired with the fact that they'll get to revisit the much-loved D&D setting from the original game; but just as importantly, newcomers with absolutely no concept of Baldur's Gate or Shadows of Amn will have just as much fun watching. Baldur's Gate 3 takes place roughly 100 years in the future, so while there will more than likely be plenty of little throwbacks to the previous games for nostalgia's sake, the game (and its cinematic) can stand on their own.

For those intrigued by the opening cinematic and curious what the actual game is like, Larian also went through a sizeable chunk of Baldur's Gate 3 gameplay that fans can watch. In its entirety, the PAX East presentation offers a look at the cinematic, the game's turn-based combat, dialogue with NPCs, and exploration.

Baldur's Gate 3 has quite the legacy to live up to, as the original Baldur's Gate saga leaves some pretty huge shoes to fill. From what the cinematic and its accompanying gameplay show, however, Larian seems to be taking the challenge in stride; adopting the best parts of the old games while bringing its own new and exciting twists to the franchise.