Baldur's Gate 3 devs originally went for a truly “cartoony” art style, but I'm glad they didn't go with it

Baldur’s Gate 3 devs originally went for a truly “cartoony” art style, but I'm glad they didn't go with it - VideoGamer

Baldur's Gate 3 originally had a more "cartoon-y" art style before Larian Studios changed their minds about the game's look.

videogamer.com

TL;DR: Larian Studios seriously toyed with a bright, cartoony look for Baldur’s Gate 3—think indie‐art‐book vibes—before scrapping it twice and rebuilding the visuals from scratch. Lead character artist Alena Dubrovina revealed on CD Projekt Red’s AnsweRED Podcast that the team experimented with highly stylised, exaggerated proportions but ultimately chose a richer, more realistic saturation akin to Divinity: Original Sin.

In hindsight, the grounded aesthetic clearly paid off—BG3’s success probably owes a lot to that dramatic art-style U-turn. Still, it’d be awesome if one of Larian’s two upcoming projects leans into that cartoon flair they originally dreamed up.