Baldur's Gate 3: Mind-Blowing Motion Capture
Baldur’s Gate 3 is “mind-blowing” when it comes to motion capture, with the hundreds of actors involved helping to bring the game’s NPCs to life and enhance the overall experience for players. The audio quality, voice acting, and motion capture have all improved massively since the days of the original Baldur’s Gate, and the game’s developers have brought this improvement to bear in their latest RPG game.
“It’s been a great experience to be part of this game,” one voice actor says in a video by YouTuber Bardic Jacks (below). “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and this is the best game I’ve ever worked in.” Several actors say they’ve done a lot of work on Baldur’s Gate 3, providing fully voiced lines for every NPC, including animals. This is “absolutely incredible,” according to one of the voice actors.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is filled with realistic facial expressions, hand gestures, and body movements that bring the characters to life and make them feel more like real people. It’s impressive enough to have fully voiced NPCs, but to also have so many animations is something else entirely. It’s something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a game before.
The Bardic Jacks video features plenty of examples of this, although my favourite is Karlach randomly dancing. It’s a small thing, but it just adds to the overall sense that Larian Studios has put a lot of effort into this game, and it shows. Other NPCs have idle animations too, like Edwin leaning against a wall and eating a pie. It’s not essential, but it’s a nice detail.
It’s not just the animations, either. The facial animations are particularly impressive, with some saying there’s minimal reuse of NPC faces compared to The Witcher 3 or other open-world games. There are also lots of different faces and some additional lines if the NPC is dead or killed in a particularly unusual way, which is nice to see.
“I’m dead,” one actor says in Bardic Jacks’ video. “I’m in the game as an NPC. I’m dead.” There are also various funny lines for when NPCs die unexpectedly or from their own stupidity, which is a nice touch. Some players appreciate this attention to detail, whereas others find the jokes and more romantic elements cringe-worthy.
It’s worth pointing out that these quirky elements, such as NPC dialogue when they’re dead, are entirely optional. You can just as easily ignore them if they’re not to your taste. Some players also express disappointment with Blizzard, saying the Baldur’s Gate 3 team has put far more effort into its game than the Warcraft and Overwatch studio.
Despite some criticisms, the overwhelming majority of players consider Baldur’s Gate 3 to be a must-play. It’s hard to argue with the depth and immersive storytelling on offer, as well as the impact your choices have on the gameplay experience. Even minor things like NPC deaths or pickpocketing have consequences, and that’s something I really appreciate as a player.
You can check out even more examples of the amazing work that went into Baldur’s Gate 3 in the video below.
