The controversial final battle in Stranger Things is littered with gaming references, according to the show’s creators, with Baldur’s Gate 3 a major inspiration.
As a show built around 1980s nostalgia, Stranger Things and video games have been intertwined ever since the series began in 2016.
Many episodes, across all five seasons, have featured nods to classic games from the era, with the second season memorably featuring arcade cabinets for Dig Dug and Dragon’s Lair. This continues in the fifth and final season, where Derek is seen playing Ghosts ‘N Goblins on the NES, and Steve Harrington’s skills on Duck Hunt are used as a punchline.
But now, the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, have explained how the final battle with Vecna and the Mind Flayer was inspired by the much more recent Baldur’s Gate 3.
Speaking to Variety about the staging of the climactic fight in the two hour final episode, Matt Duffer said: ‘We were thinking about [Dungeons & Dragons] and I was playing Baldur’s Gate 3 at the time, and we felt it was very important that the only way for them to defeat it was for the entire party to work together.
‘Everyone had fully realised – either through self-acceptance or they’ve resolved all their various issues – moving into that final battle, they’re absolutely primed. They’re the ultimate team, and it’s the party working all together to defeat this thing.
‘And they each have their own individual skills, right? And that’s where I go back to Dungeons & Dragons, and something like Baldur’s Gate. Because that’s how you take down these monsters that seem otherwise unstoppable. Lots of video game references were applied to that final battle.’
As Baldur’s Gate 3 is an adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons, which is a key inspiration for Stranger Things, it’s unsurprising to hear Larian’s role-player had some influence on the show – even if a party coming together to defeat the big bad isn’t exactly unique to that game.
While it’s unclear what other game references are in the final battle, the overall setup is very reminiscent of a final boss fight. In the battle (spoilers ahead), a large group of the core cast go up against the Mind Flayer and Vecna in the Abyss (a term borrowed from Dungeons & Dragons).
All the characters get a moment to shine, and at one point Mike, Lucas, Robin, and Jonathan climb a cliff to bombard the spider-like beast – with the staging very reminscent of a classic video game boss fight.
The Baldur’s Gate 3 nod has since caught the attention of Larian CEO Swen Vincke, who shared an article with Matt Duffer’s comments on X, adding: ‘That’s pretty cool.’
As revealed last month, Larian’s next game after Baldur’s Gate 3 is Divinity. While there’s no confirmed release date, it’s the seventh game in the series, following 2017’s acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin 2.
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