Baldur’s Gate 2 added romance after its writing director played Final Fantasy VII and was “scared s***less”: “This is how a game should be”

Trent Oster, now CEO of Beamdog and a modeller on the original Baldur’s Gate, explained that Ohlen had played Final Fantasy VII and been deeply impressed by its character work. According to Oster, Ohlen felt the team needed to catch up — he believed Final Fantasy VII demonstrated the kind of character interaction and romantic depth a game could achieve.

Celebrating 25 Years Of Baldur’s Gate 2: Part 1 w/ @edgreenwoodofficial, David Gaider & Trent Oster – YouTube

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Oster recalls Ohlen telling the team, “These guys outclassed us. This is how a game should be done — we have room to improve.”

Oster notes that Ohlen could be exacting but remained modest; when he believed something could be better, he pushed relentlessly to raise the quality. That ambition also shaped Baldur’s Gate II’s scope: whereas the original felt confined to a single connected map, the sequel moves like “a rollercoaster through some of the most iconic locales in the Realms.”

Oster adds, “You visit a Sahuagin city, you descend into the Underdark — you finally get to experience the places you’ve only read about, and it was exhilarating.”

Ultimately the gamble paid off — romantic subplots have become a mainstay of modern RPGs, and it’s difficult to picture Baldur’s Gate 3 without those relationship systems.

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