The Name of the Game
Loremaster
Member Posts: 212
In retrospect, Baldur‘s Gate is not a good name of a game. Baldur’s Gate is the name of a city the protagonist visit late in the first game and in SoA and ToB not at all.
When BG was first released the developers most likely did not have a second game and expansions in mind (perhaps in their dreams), nor was the whole story written; so it’s quite understandable they couldn’t give the game a name that would reflect the whole story. Now, if we could change the name (we can’t but if we could) to something that would be more suitable, what would it be?
My suggestion is “Ascension”, something I derive from the theme of the series; in the end the choice of ascension is what the protagonist is faced with.
What do you say? What would be a better name of the game?
When BG was first released the developers most likely did not have a second game and expansions in mind (perhaps in their dreams), nor was the whole story written; so it’s quite understandable they couldn’t give the game a name that would reflect the whole story. Now, if we could change the name (we can’t but if we could) to something that would be more suitable, what would it be?
My suggestion is “Ascension”, something I derive from the theme of the series; in the end the choice of ascension is what the protagonist is faced with.
What do you say? What would be a better name of the game?
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Comments
To somewhat steal your idea, I can see Child of Bhaal II: Ascension as a nice title for ToB.
The Iron Throne
Siege of Dragonspear
Shadows of Amn
Throne of Bhaal
Maybe the name of the first expansion could be used as the name of the full game : Tales of the Sword Coast
Final Fantasy turned out not to be so Final for example. Dragon Age 3 is about a war between guilds and Guild Wars 2 is bout an age of Dragons. So on and so forth.
Past a certain point it's just a brand. You wouldn't read any more into the name than you would Nike or Disney.
1. It isn't spoilery
2. It has brand recognition with the Forgotten Realms universe.
3. It's a 2 - 1 syllable title. Which is phonemically pleasing and easy to remember.
4. Baldur's Gate, even though it is late in the game is still massive in scale unlike anything ever seen before in a game.
5. The story of the first game is about the city as much as the players characters heritage. The Iron Crisis is affecting the city negatively enough that the region is on the brink of war.
Anything with Bhaalspawn in the title spoils a huge reveal of the character and diminishes things like the dream sequences (the first time you play the game) if you know exactly what you are from the title of the game.
Street Fighter has a lot of indoor fights
Oh man we should make a new thread about this lol.
I would like to name the game Bhaalspawn or Bhaalspawn saga with sub-titles as proposed above. Although, it is probably too spoilery to anyone familiar with the Forgotten Realms; so I go for Ascension instead.
How do you name something anyway, without spoilering but at the same time letting the name reflect the theme?
The game’s success certainly wasn’t due to it’s name, though. Other games tried fitting Baldur’s Gate into their names and had not as much success or longevity.
Gorion's Ward, The Bhaalspawn Saga, so on and so forth, it leaves no room to grow.
Baldur's Gate has infinite potential. We can reboot the franchise at any time, and so long as we drop by the city of Baldur's Gate at some point there's all sorts of room to explore the themes and ideas of the original in new ways. We could have a new character with a new heritage and explore it in new ways.
Bhaalspawn Saga though, what are we gonna do with that? Say we wanna make a new game today, using 5th edition rules, in Modern Forgotten Realms, are we gonna have to come up with some new reason for Bhaal to go on another baby-making spree?
Baby Bhaal's
The little ward that could...
Gnome without a home.
Gorion and his scion.
Gnome alone.
Imoen and her unfaithful sidekick.
Gorion was too heavy to carry to a temple so I...
When Bears attack.
The unfriendly arms.
Assassins need.
Broken Sword / Axe
Rust
Free candle
Sarevok and his brothers.
Brother from another mother.
I disagree that the name is bad.
The game is set in the Forgotten Realms and I think a main objective was to place the story we follow against/within a realised world.
It isn't until near the end that the "world" becomes of lesser importance than the "hero's journey to discover their destiny/heritage",
BG2 tried hard to do the same, keep the theme, with "Shadows of Amn" but you can never unlearn what you already know.
Throne of Bhaal, the "world/setting" fades away, (really as it should) because of the way the saga has evolved.
Any name that evokes the sense that the whole story evolves around charname would be a bad choice.
The only name IMO that could replace BG would be "Forgotten Realms" to preserve the idea that this is a world within which events happen but the world exists outside/independant of the narrative.
With BG as a sub title for the first installment.
A comparable example would be,
A Tale of Two Cities.
versus
Oliver Twist.
Each name informs the reader something about how the story should be viewed.
The first is what happens within the setting to individuals and how they cope/react.
The second is straight forward you will follow this individual and the world revolves around them.
BG as a whole is about an individual thrown into a setting beyond their control and how they manage/overcome it.
It's TofTC rather than OT.
(source: https://web.archive.org/web/19980210212555/http://www.ogr.com:80/specials/ironthrone_interview.shtml)
Bloodline would have been an interesting title. Early in the game, a player might think it has something to do with the Iron Crisis and the impending war between Baldur's Gate and Amn. Or perhaps the "trail (line) of blood" your character is leaving across the Sword Coast from all the enemies you keep killing. Then you learn about Sarevok, and finally your own heritage -- and the true meaning of the name finally clicks.
Plus, "Bloodline II: Throne of Bhaal" would have been a pretty cool name for the conclusion of the saga.
Though I can't help but think if you were paying attention you'd probably clue into where this is going pretty quickly. You take like two steps away from Winthrop's inn and those chanters start singing about how Bhaal died and left a score of mortal progeny. Then you head to Bereghost and Firebead Elvenhair gives you The History of The Dead Three while cryptically telling you that this might be important information. They're little hints but if you're already on the lookout for bloodline related stuff they seem kind of glaringly obvious.
It sounds like a Norse epic. The fact it is just the name of a city within the fictitious world is irrelevant...it is unique and interesting and makes you think of adventure.
@Jaheiras_Witness Yes, Baldur sounds Nordic. In Norse mythology there is a god called Balder. Don't recall his story though.
One day as a prank, Loki decides to kill Baldur. I forget the specifics but he used mistletoe. Everybody was pretty upset, on account of there being no joy in the universe anymore. They go on a prolonged quest to hunt Loki down in vengeance. I could be wrong but I think in the end they made a deal with the god that took care of their afterlife to trade Loki for Balder.