The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, have stated that the series' final battle was partially inspired by Baldur's Gate 3. Matt Duffer apparently played this game in preparation for the fight.
Note: There are spoilers for the final battle ahead.
“We were thinking about D&D, and I was playing Baldur's Gate 3 at the time.” Duffer told Variety“and we felt it was very important that the only way to win [the mind flayer] was for the whole party to work together. Everyone has become fully aware – either through self-acceptance or through solving all their various problems – that going into the final battle, they are absolutely ready. They are the best team and this group is working together to defeat this thing.
“And they each have their own individual skills, right? And then I come back to Dungeons & Dragons and something like Baldur's Gate. Because that's how you can defeat these otherwise unstoppable monsters. There were a lot of video game references used in that final battle.”
The final battle of Stranger Things pits nearly the entire cast against a colossal arachnid crab monster in the wastelands of Dimension X. This is a physical manifestation of the phantom mind flayer we see repeatedly throughout the series, and with whom Henry Creel, aka Vecna, works – he literally resides inside the beast.
Of course, you should expect references to Baldur's Gate 3, as both entertainment titles are heavily based on or inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, and both revolve around the mind flayer plot. In Stranger Things, it's more euphemistic, but it's used as a kind of slang where the central characters – children – refer to the strange enemies they encounter. In BG3 you face the very real threat of a mind flayer, and coincidentally you also have to destroy the megamind controlling it (which is not a giant spider crab).
It's unclear whether Matt Duffer played Baldur's Gate 3 for inspiration or entertainment purposes – the interview doesn't address that – but I expect it to be both. The Duffer Brothers have previously stated that, despite appearances, they are not longtime D&D fans. they didn't grow up playing this. Perhaps BG3 was a more accessible way to learn the game.
Matt Duffer also didn't specify what other video game references were in the final battle of Stranger Things, although if you ask me, that mind flayer spider crab looks a lot like the trooper from the Gears of War series. It also resembles a giant enemy crab. Sony's infamous “giant enemy crab” meme from Genji: Days of the Blade.
