Summary

• Baldur's Gate 3 covers only a small part of the Faerûn setting, and a sequel could have gone in many directions.
• Locations like Waterdeep could provide far-flung journeys, while the Upper City could stick close to home.
• It's possible a new Faerûn game could happen at a different game studio.

Baldur's Gate 3 isn't getting a continuation from developer Larian Studios, but taking a look at the game's setting in the larger context of Faerûn shows just how many interesting directions a sequel could have taken. As the central continent of the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons & Dragons world with years of rich history behind it, Faerûn is a vast and varied expanse that boasts the complexity necessary to countless adventures. The city of Baldur's Gate and its immediate surroundings make for some of the coolest locations in Faerûn, but they're far from the only to have significant potential.

The news that Larian won't be making more Baldur's Gate games came as a major blow to the loyal community, although it doesn't necessarily mean that the series is done forever. Just like Larian stepped in after Bioware made the original games, another studio could always take up the mantle to tell a new story in Faerûn, and it's good to see Larian comfortably following its own path. Larian's shoes will be hard to fill, however, so the fate of the franchise remains uncertain for the time being.

Baldur's Gate 3 Covers A Tiny Part Of D&D's Faerûn

The Sword Coast Alone Dwarfs Baldur's Gate 3

A clear look at Baldur's Gate 3 in the context of Faerûn's Sword Coast appears in a Reddit post by Lwmons, with a small red box mapping out the rough size and location of the game's setting on a much larger map of the realm. It's a good reminder of how far well-designed, bespoke content can go, as the game feels vast despite its limited geographical expanse. The Shadow Curse and the opportunity to explore the Underdark also inject a more varied sense of terrain and atmosphere into a region that would otherwise mostly just be grassy.

The Baldur's Gate franchise is obviously called Baldur's Gate for a reason, so it's unlikely to ever venture extraordinarily far from its namesake city. Icewind Dale and Neverwinter are a couple of locations on the map that have already received their own respective franchises, and any return to these environs would make more sense as a resurrection of those series rather than the future of Baldur's Gate.

Even with these restrictions in place, there are still a lot of opportunities to explore, and Baldur's Gate 2 already set a precedent for leaving the city behind by venturing south to the nation of Amn. Heading equally far to the east or north would open up a variety of interesting options, and venturing west into the Sea of Swords could provide some island adventures. There's also always the possibility of bouncing back and forth from the city through magical means, whether in the form of Baldur's Gate 3's Waypoint mechanic or an alternative system.

Waterdeep Would Be A Great Baldur's Gate 3 Follow-Up

Another Iconic D&D City Has Enormous Potential

Taking a long road north eventually leads to Waterdeep, which would be a particularly appealing option for a Baldur's Gate 3 follow-up. In a direct sequel, Gale would already provide a strong link to the iconic city, but there's no shortage of opportunities to explore, even with a new cast of characters. Waterdeep is one of the most iconic cities in Faerûn for a reason, and the fact that it hasn't gotten the kind of video game treatment that Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter have feels more like a miss with every ing year.

In tabletop play, Waterdeep was most recently highlighted in the 5e campaign books Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Dungeon of the Mad Mage, which respectively deliver a roleplay-oriented experience in the city and a dive into dungeons underneath. Waterdeep's status as a major center of commerce, art, and study offers a lot to dig into, whether sticking to a specific sector like Baldur's Gate 3's Lower City or attempting to build a comprehensive city. For DnD veterans, it's likely to be a familiar favorite, and newcomers would be able to fall in love with the city for the first time.

Faerûn Has A Lot To Offer A Baldur's Gate 3 Successor

Returning To Past Locations And Exploring Cut Content Could Both Work

Waterdeep is only one option of many, from other cities of influence to peaceful hamlets to dark strongholds. If a Baldur's Gate 4 ended up sticking closer to the city of Baldur's Gate, there wouldn't be any shame in revisiting locations from the original game at this point. Anyone who devoured the reading material littered throughout Baldur's Gate 3 would no doubt happily take another trip to the library of Candlekeep, for example, which isn't far to the south. Baldur's Gate 3 takes place over a century after the older games in canon, so there's plenty of room for evolution.

Baldur's Gate 3 also has its own dangling threads left unfinished, and diving into these would be more than enough to provide for substantial DLC or perhaps even a sequel. The Upper City, which was seemingly considered at one point in development, would easily be an act's worth of content on its own. The hellscape of Avernus plays another major role in the game despite never actually featuring as a session, and taking a similar tack to the related tabletop campaign Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus would definitely be an option.

In the bigger picture, it would be nice to see more of the Sword Coast and Faerûn at large explored in the video game sphere, which has been a lot slower throughout the DnD fifth edition era than it was in the second and third editions. The Forgotten Realms isn't the only campaign setting that could offer interesting material — the higher-tech world of Eberron, for instance, has gotten surprisingly little love in video games — but it's vast enough in scope to remain the focus for a long time yet without getting stale.

Accepting that another Baldur's Gate game may never happen can be hard, especially when looking at what another entry could explore. Considering the difficulty of making something that meets the standards for scale and quality as Baldur's Gate 3, it might be best to hope for another studio to take on a different setting in Faerûn, either as a resurrection of another classic series or a new story altogether. Whatever the future holds for the Forgotten Realms, it remains a shame that Larian Studios won't be tackling any of them with a Baldur's Gate 3 successor.

Source: Lwmons/Reddit