The Baldur’s Gate remakes should scrap the original combat system and fully embrace superior turn-based fights

Baldur’s Gate 2, and likely the original Baldur’s Gate, are getting remakes, we recently learned. Wizards of the Coast has even brought BG2’s co-lead designer back. It’s exciting news, but we still have no idea what shape these remakes will take, or how liberal the team is being when it comes to changing things.

Well, I’m hoping for at least one significant change.

The people have spoken

(Image credit: Beamdog)

When I revealed the existence of the project yesterday, I said that changing BG’s combat system was a “significant risk”. While real-time-with-pause combat has fallen out of favour over the years, fans don’t tend to take it well when things change too much, and if there’s any group still holding a torch for this style of combat, it’s BG fans.

But here’s the thing: nobody is taking RTWP out of Baldur’s Gate. Indeed, you have two versions, the originals and the enhanced editions, full of RTWP brawls. You have been catered to already. So maybe it’s time for something different.

And while the most vocal BG fans might disagree, I know a lot of you would much rather dabble in some turn-based bouts. Last month, in my Dungeon Master column, I asked you all if you preferred RTWP or TB, and it wasn’t even close.

A whopping 75% of you picked TB. My people.

An elegant weapon for a more civilised age

(Image credit: Larian)

I’ve been a TB evangelist for a long time, but I can’t deny that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a big part of why I’d love to see the original games get a TB makeover. Larian turned its fights into elaborate puzzles that fully take advantage of their environments in a way that just doesn’t really work in RTWP—at least not the way it was implemented in BG1 and 2.

Importantly, a TB system would also make Baldur’s Gate more authentically D&D. Tabletop battles are complex affairs that encourage patience and planning. Every move you make is given space to breathe. Every charge, every slash with your sword, every explosion of magic missiles—they all become critical, instead of being lost in the scrum.

It’s simply a more civilised way to slaughter a bunch of gnolls.

And what’s the point of a remake anyway if you’re not going to take some risks, some big swings? Playing it safe is pointless, otherwise you’re just making a slightly prettier version of a game that people are still more than capable of enjoying despite its advanced years.

(Image credit: Beamdog)

I don’t want a prettier version of Baldur’s Gate. I want a new take on a classic. A new experience that augments the old one. Something complementary, sure, but also something bold. That’s a lot more exciting than just repeating some adventures I originally had when I was still in school.

But it’s undeniably a tricky thing to balance, and I wouldn’t be pleased if we saw a cavalcade of changes made just for the sake of change. I don’t want the team to soften Jaheira’s rough edges, make vampires less annoying to fight—they should be annoying!—or give Jon Irenicus a funny sidekick.

That’s why TB is the way to go, though. It maintains everything that’s great about Baldur’s Gate while giving us a new way to experience it.