Warlock Dev: Don't Expect a Baldur's Gate 3-Style Branching Story

Invoke's Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons won't have a fluid, branching narrative like Baldur's Gate 3. The devs say the main story beats are fixed and you'll play a written character named Kaatri.

Ever since Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons was announced, people have been comparing it to Baldur's Gate 3. Both are D&D games, both are RPGs, so surely they'll be similar, right? Not so fast. Invoke general manager Dominique Guay wants to set the record straight: Warlock is not trying to be Baldur's Gate 3, especially when it comes to story.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Guay explained that Warlock's narrative is much more linear than Larian's 2023 Game of the Year winner. "We're being very clear on that," he said. "Kaatri is a written character, so it's not like you can play evil or good Kaatri. Nothing like that. The main narrative moments you're going to go through are written down, and you're going to go through the same moment as someone else."

So if you were hoping for a web of choices that radically changes the plot, you might want to adjust your expectations. Warlock is all about one hero's journey, not an ensemble cast. While Baldur's Gate 3 lets you create your own avatar and recruit a party of playable companions, Warlock focuses squarely on Kaatri. That said, you won't be alone. Guay mentioned "definitely allies you'll make along the way, kind of her found family." One of those allies is your imp companion, Skev, and Guay teased that "there's an ongoing story there of how their relationship grows."

Even though the main story beats are fixed, that doesn't mean the game lacks player agency. In fact, Warlock takes a different approach to exploration. The open-world D&D game doesn't have AAA-standard waypoints because the developers want you to feel that "when they found things, it was based on their actions." So while the plot may be on rails, how you discover the world and its secrets is up to you.

Our own staff writer Jasmine Gould-Wilson got hands-off time with Warlock at this year's Gamescom and fell deeply "under its spell." She expressed confidence that the game might successfully escape Baldur's Gate 3's long shadow with an entirely different take on the D&D universe. It's not trying to out-Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3, and that's probably a good thing.

So, what do you think? Are you okay with a more linear, character-driven story in your D&D games, or do you need that branching narrative freedom? Will you be picking up Warlock when it launches? Let us know in the comments!