Baldurs Gate 3 had a 'cartoony' artstyle before shifting gears 'at least twice'

According to Baldur's Gate 3 director Alena Dubrovina, Baldur's Gate 3 went through several iterations before landing on its blended photo-realistic aesthetic. Originally, the game had a 'cartoony' art style, and it wasn't exactly early in pre-production that this direction was scrapped.

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Speaking on the AnsweRED Podcast, Dubrovina sat down with CD Projekt Red game director Sebastian Kalemba to discuss the role of art direction in major game projects. According to Dubrovina, the creative process for Baldur's Gate 3 was a turbulent one - with the studio shifting gears multiple times before landing on a final aesthetic.

"We actually changed design direction at least two times. And it was not just polish, but it was a complete turnaround," she explained.

Most notably, Larian Studios placed a significant emphasis on stylized approaches early - exploring 'cartoony' art styles that more closely resembled indie D&D books and artwork.

"We tried more stylized approaches, like I would say even a cartoony approach to match it closer to what we see in the indie books and indie art," she said.

With a lack of concrete structure in pre-production, the ideas were flying left, right and centre. But with the trial-and-error approach and constant changes in direction, there were inevitable frustrations for the character artists involved.

"I remember talking to a fellow character artist on our team - it was already half a year in. He was still just working on heads, and it was like, 'Yeah, you're getting there.' Then it was like, 'No, it's not there.' He was already kind of close to his limit."

While it's easy to praise the game's final aesthetic in hindsight, it only shows that the creative process for a masterpiece certainly isn't linear.