Baldur's Gate 3 had a lengthy early-access period before its eventual release, and a lot of elements were changed between early access and full release. However, a lot of players aren't aware of these changes because Baldur's Gate 3's full release exposed the game to far more players than just the community who played during early access.

The Baldur's Gate 3 early access veterans recently came together on a Reddit thread to discuss the cut content from early access that they wish made it into the final game.

The top comment concerns Omeluum, the more likeable of the two sentient Mind Flayers the party encounters. He is first encountered in the Underdark, asking the player for help in finding rare mushrooms. Should the party comply, Omeluum may give the party a Ring of Mind Shielding which he says can help protect against their tadpoles.

In the full release, the ring just protects against charms and Omeluum admits as much later on. However, in early access, the ring actually did stop the player from accessing Illithid powers. This storyline may have been intended as an anti-Emperor route in early access but ultimately ended up being cut content.

Larian has never acknowledged her existence, but there was originally another origin character named Helia. She was a Halfling Werewolf, and data miners have found plenty of evidence of Helia's existence, including over 700 voice lines and dialogue from other characters referencing her like Karlach and Auntie Ethel.

"Early Access Wyll" is a bit of a meme in the Baldur's Gate 3 community as the character used to be much less likeable. However, a cooler aspect of Wyll's old writing was that he lost his eye to the Goblin torturer Spike which pushed him to make a contract with Mizora to get revenge. He would then communicate with Mizora using his prosthetic eye. While nobody enjoyed Wyll's attitude, his connection to the Goblin Camp would have been a neat aspect of his character.

People probably aren't seriously begging for this one to come back but it's worth noting. Cut content suggests that a male Dark Urge could have impregnated Minthara, or Minthara could have been impregnated by Orin already when the party meets her. This didn't make it to the final release.

A lot of the comments refer to Daisy, a precursor to your Guardian in the full release. Daisy was a psychological manifestation of the tadpole, a dream visitor who tried to convince the player to submit to their Illithid powers. It's widely assumed The Dark Urge was intended to be the intended player character, and Bhaal and Daisy would sort of fight over Durge's soul.

There's so much more cut content that could be talked about like all of the Upper City being scrapped, but Baldur's Gate 3 can only get so big. Still, it's fun to speculate and think about the narrative threads that didn't quite make the final release of the game.

Posted: Sep 19, 2024 8:36 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-cut-content-should-come-back/