It’s a feeling that many RPG fans can relate to. You just completed a goodie two-shoes playthrough of your epic adventure, and are hungry for more, so you resolve to replay the game while making the opposite decisions this time around.
It sounds perfect, it’s one of the best things about an RPG like Baldur’s Gate 3, letting you go full bastard mode, embracing the dark side, and witnessing all the alternative story permutations that that leads to.
So why can’t I do it?!?
Cruelty Commitment Issues
Sure, I might start off a bit callous. I might choose a few not-so-nice dialogue options and annoy a couple of people. Nothing too consequential. However, when it comes down to it and I have the option to do somethingtrulyevil, I just can’t follow through. Baldur’s Gate 3 is just the latest on a long line of RPGs where I’ve tried to do ‘evil’ playthroughs, yet never fully succeeded.
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Take a renegade playthrough ofMass Effect 2and betraying everyone I trust, for example. I couldn’t fathom going against Tali’s wishes and presenting her father’s evidence to the Admiralty Board, alienating her forever. There’s nothing in my body or brain that would allow me to sell Legion, one of the most loyal squad members there is, to Cerberus for no reason.
A lot of the renegade options are just Shepard being a hard-ass or playing the tough guy and those are easy decisions to pursue, but anything that hurts one of my beloved squadmates, I just can’t do. If you can do it, you have a steelier heart than I.
BioWare’s other contemporary series,Dragon Age, has plenty of evil options in its original iteration. Once again, I think the most despicable actions the player can take are ones that betray your trusted party members. Leaving Sten to die in Lothering, for example. Or tainting Andraste’s Ashes, while being comically evil also turns Leliana and Wynne against you. The most disgusting act you can take in Origins is undoubtedly allowing Anora to execute your staunchest ally Alistair at the game’s conclusion.
Hurting the party members and companions that I’ve grown close to is what really wounds me. I could do something evil if it’s disconnected from my character and their friends. I could let the Council perish in Mass Effect 1, I could destroy the Rachni Queen, dooming an entire race. Saying something that hurts Liara’s feelings though, that’s where I draw the line.
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Having said this, I struggle with evil actions inBaldur’s Gate 3regardless of whether they affect my companions or not. The primary requirement for recruiting Minthara to your party is slaughtering all the Tieflings in the Emerald Grove. This is an evil action to commit, especially after meeting and conversing with the numerous innocent Tieflings who are striving for a better life for themselves.[so did you do it, or couldn’t you bring yourself to it?]
The Dark Urge is a different story because that origin is so comically evil that it feels wrong to not be as depraved as possible in your actions. Even then, I couldn’t commit to the roleplay when it came to my friends. I couldn’t kill Karlach, I can’t justify giving Shadowheart to Viconia, killing Minsc or screwing over Wyll by having him sign away his soul to Mizora and then letting Duke Ravengard die. It’s all unthinkable.
The Easy Way Out
You may have noticed my fatal flaw: I just can’t hurt characters who bear their emotions to me, the ones striving for purpose and a sense of belonging in unfair situations. When playing asDisco Elysium’s Harry du Bois, I could rough up a few individuals, and I could enjoy a drink from time to time. But could I say something mean to Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi? No, I don’t think I could.
I have begrudging respect for those who can do what I cannot. Those who can put aside their personal feelings for the sake of committing to a role, or to see the maximum amount of content. I’ll continue to read about the awful things that could happen on wiki pages, safe in the knowledge that in my personal saves, everyone is happy, healthy and doesn’t hate my guts.
