Although Larian Studios has shown how great its character work was in the past, it reached a new level with Baldur's Gate 3, in large part thanks to the cinematics and performance capture that really allowed the developer to bring these characters to life. Pair this with a talented cast who seem to love their characters, and it all culminated in having some of the best characters in an RPG, praised for being up there with the cast of The Witcher 3. That doesn't mean there weren't hardships in crafting these characters, however, especially the legacy ones from predecessor titles.

There was a massive gap between Baldur's Gate 2 and 3, both in the game (roughly 120-year gap) and out (BG2 came out in 2000), and the games are vastly different in many ways. They use different Dungeons & Dragons rulesets, BG2 is a real-time strategy game while its sequel is turn-based, and they were made by different studios, with BioWare being responsible for BG2. Despite this, Larian made sure that Baldur's Gate 3 could act as an entry point and as a proper sequel, while also including years of DnD lore additions, and that made one character hard to implement.

Minsc Was A Difficult Character To Humanize In BG3

He Is Known For His Slapstick Adventures And Over-The-Top Persona

Baldur's Gate 3 can be a very dark game. Being able to play the Dark Urge is evidence of this, and although there are moments of levity through dialogue, the overall tone of the game can be quite dire, especially in Act 2 and the latter parts of Act 3. Still, Act 3 introduces a relatively over-the-top character, who feels like he was added to the cast for some much-needed levity, Minsc, but Larian revealed in an interview with Game Rant that Minsc was difficult to put into the game, despite being a legacy character.

To those who have only played Baldur's Gate 3, this game is probably where they were introduced to Minsc and his minature giant space hamster, Boo, but that character has been around for a long time. Like Jaheria and Viconia DeVir, he's been around since BG1, although he has had some special attention, comparatively. As part of a tie-in with DnD's fifth edition, Minsc featured heavily in a comic called Legends of Baldur's Gate, then was in other comics, like Shadows of the Vampire, Frost Giant's Fury, Evil at Baldur's Gate, and Infernal Tides.

Sarevok is another character that has featured in prior Baldur's Gate titles and was the main antagonist of BG1.

Minsc being recuitable in Baldur's Gate 3 is partly because he is a popular character, even before this most recent appearance, but he is also a simple character with a well-established personality. He is a force for good, although he can be a chaotic, childish force at times, and is, quite frankly, very strange. His strangeness would typically fit a DnD setting, especially with one that allows players to make some bizarre characters of their own, but the seriousness of BG3's setting at times isn't the easiest thing to put someone as simple as Minsc into, which is probably the reason why he is such a late addition to the party.

Why Minsc Is Such A Difficult D&D Character To Translate Into A Game

He Doesn't Suit The Setting On The Surface

Minsc and Boo are an odd duo, and their strangeness is further highlighted when put in a game with BG3's cinematics. According to Adam Smith, lead writer at Larian, Minsc's strangeness was less apparent in the other Baldur's Gate titles due to them being purely isometric, but with BG3's aesthetic, Larian had to make Minsc look like a real person. The studio also had the difficulty of bringing an almost slapstick character into the fold of a quite serious game, especially later in Baldur's Gate 3's third act, where it's inching toward its climax.

Minsc can understand Boo, but the player cannot even when using spells and potions to speak with animals.

Minsc is a simple, well-established character, and Larian had to make sure it was true to his past depictions, making sure he had all of his quirks, while humanizing him enough to fit with the tone established by BG3. Every character in the party is complex one way or another, with Minthara being an average, evil drow on the surface, but has her humanizing moments as the story goes on. Minsc is the same, maintaining his paragon-like and chaotic persona while also thinking about those he lost when asked to reflect on the prior Baldur's Gate titles.

It was a fine line to balance between keeping Minsc true to the character established in BG1 and built upon by DnD later while ensuring he was humanized enough to fit in the game. When compared to Jaheira, another follower that came from prior Baldur's Gate games, Minsc did seem less human because of his over-the-top personality. Jaheira has the relatable struggle of being exhausted by a job, but having to carry on doing it for the sake of people relying on her, whereas Minsc just wants to stomp out evil with his hamster because it's fun and right.

Larian Thankfully Pulled Off Its Portrayal Of Minsc

He Could Have Easily Stuck Out Like A Sore Thumb

Larian ended up finding a good balance between keeping Minsc strange, but not too strange to feel alien. He isn't the smartest character around, but he wasn't written to be a bumbling buffoon, since he is aware of events around him and the cost of stomping out evil. Minsc's friendship with Jaheira helps humanize him too, and he comes across as charming. His inclusion toward the end of the game aids his character too, since he doesn't require a long arc, nor does he overstay his welcome.

His later inclusion also helps with his pre-established might, since players won't meet him until they are close to the max level. He's even introduced powering out of the maw of a mimic, establishing him as a powerful force first and a charming comic-relief second. Having a voice actor with Matt Mercer's immense range certainly helps this duality of Minsc too, with him able to portray the oddities and fun of the character while delivering the occasional heartfelt line, since Minsc is someone who just says whatever comes to mind. It helps him feel like he has a range of emotions.

Creating Baldur's Gate 3 was going to be a difficult job for anyone, especially considering that it was made by a different studio than the original games. Larian had to make something groundbreaking while respecting the grounds that the game had to be built on, and it managed to do that with the portrayal of many legacy characters, including Minsc. Larian handled Minsc and Jaheria better than it handled Viconia, at least, humanizing these two characters to fit into Baldur's Gate 3 while making sure their prior appearances in other projects were respected.

Source: Game Rant