„You're asking us to do a terrible thing.” Unassuming Baldur's Gate 3 character caused unexpected problems for Larian Studios

Baldur's Gate 3 is a story with an exceptionally colorful cast of characters. In the background, there are many interesting individuals who are remembered for a long time. One of them is Valeria - a winged elephant-detective. She is investigating the Cultists of the Absolute in Baldur's Gate. If we're lucky, we'll come across her several times; once in the temple of Sharess Caress, where she goes after hours to indulge in wine.

The character is interesting because it caused the game developers a lot of trouble. Martin Docherty and Aoife Wilson, developers at Larian Studios who work on scripts and communication, discussed her role in the production process in the latest episode of their original program, Show and Yell.

Winged Columbo

First, however, a few words of context. Valeria is a representative of the Hollyphant race, which are friendly celestial beings. They are characteristic for the "upper classes" of the DnD universe. They possess both magical and psionic abilities; they also appeared in the 2013 MMORPG game Neverwinter and the 2018 Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms.

Heavenly elephants are really kind creatures, and they actively work against the forces of evil, which puts Valeria in an interesting light - apparently, she is not a very typical representative of her species. Just take a look at her habits and the environment she's in.

However, the biggest challenge was the first internal presentation of the idea for this character: the creators had a hard time convincing other developers to buy into it. At some point, the concept of Valeria drinking wine also appeared. The artists responsible for the cutscenes reportedly reacted to it in the following way:

Valeria caused quite a lot of trouble to the people responsible for the cinematics. As they didn't know how to portray her. Apparently, one of the most important elements of the character's design was a stylish hat, and the creators were determined to include it at all costs – and it turned out really well.

When it comes to the developers at Larian Studios, one thing is for sure - they must have had a lot of fun making this game, and you can see, hear, and feel it in every aspect of this crazy adventure.

Baldur's Gate 3

August 3, 2023

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