They call it Ceremorphosis. The excruciating seven day process by which a humanoid might transform into a Mind Flayer. Stick one illithid tadpole in the brain and one week later you ve got an octopus for a head and a craving for more grey matter. And what better visual metaphor for the return of Baldur s Gate: the adventure that lodged in the hearts and minds of every RPG fan of a certain age, until it could find a host capable of doing it justice. The search took 20 years. That body belongs to Larian Studios. The game is Baldur s Gate 3.
Before we chat specifics: that reveal! Blimey. Ceremorphosis might be the inspiration, but when crafting a 90 second teaser trailer you ve got step on the gas a bit, so the process is accelerated. A week of suffering becomes a frankly horrendous slice of Cronenbergian body-shattering that is so gnarly the uncut version of the teaser was not shown at today’s Stadia announcement. I know Google want us to give their streaming tech a thumbs up, but not when that thumb is being snapped 90 degrees by a mind maggot. I direct your eyes to Larian s full version below…