Baldur's Gate III (2)

[Clertar]

The gameplay video they showed earlier this year contradicts this. It showed the first couple hours of the game, and the Nine Hells were nowhere in sight. I took their reference to Avernus to mean that the game would follow the events of Descent into Avernus like the previous games followed the Time of Troubles, not that it'd actually start there.

You are right, the reveal that I mention was unvelied at a very recent panel, just a few weeks ago (watch the trailer, now with a modified ending; they also discuss the details later). Maybe it was a slight diversion, waiting to reveal more plot details later on, or maybe they were considering different orders of areas for the start of the game.

From what I've gathered, the attacked illithid ship will plane shift to Avernus trying to evade the chase. That's where the game will start, before the party is able to gain some control of the ship and move back to Faerûn, which I suppose will be the area near Baldur's Gate where we saw the gameplay showcase start.