A Baldur's Gate 3 player ran into a bug during a romantic encounter with a non-player character -- specifically, a mind flayer. Turns out it's actually a feature.The gamer who encountered this issue shared screenshots on Twitter showing how they sent out a report for what was seemingly a "reproducible error." A team member known only as Reinaert responded and explained that it wouldn't make sense for a mind flayer to express romantic feelings in the same way other humanoids might. The game's writing and cinematic team had originally planned to create the scene, but they ended up going with a different decision: "...we came to the conclusion that to have a truly romantic moment with the mindflayer it all needs to be done telepathically."
The Baldur's Gate series takes place in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons & Dragons. Mind flayers have been a staple of the tabletop role-playing game ever since Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition. They are tall, psychically-empowered, bipedal creatures that pride themselves on their intelligence and the enslavement of other sentient species. Usually purple in color, they are reminiscent of creatures from the realms of Cthulhu, with bald heads and tentacles covering their mouths. One of their most recognizable features, aside from the face tentacles, is their appetite for brains.
Since these creatures are powerful psychics and traditionally part of a hive mind that is mentally connected with other mind flayers, it makes sense that they would show affection differently than a standard humanoid would. Reinaert's response concluded, "I know that for us mere humans this might look more disappointing but we have to respect the wishes of the mindflayer too."
Baldur's Gate 3 canonically takes place 120 years after the events of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadow of Amn and several months after the D&D adventure module Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. The game begins with the player character captured by mind flayers and in danger of being turned into one. In the hopes of removing the parasite that threatens to transform them, the player will be able to travel across Faerûn with powerful companions at their side.
The development company behind Baldur's Gate 3, Larian Studios, is also known for producing the Divinity series. Similar to Divinity: Original Sin and Original Sin 2, Baldur's Gate 3 will include turn-based combat. This is a departure from the previous games in the Baldur's Gate series.
Baldur's Gate 3 is currently in early access and available for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Stadia. The game is expected to be completed in 2023.
Source: Twitter