I’m currently on my 3rd playthrough, and I’m playing as a dark urge character who gives into his urges. For spoiler prevention I’ll describe what I just finished as vaguely as possible. I just completed the durge objective that gives you a powerful reward in act 2.
This is depressing. All of the good that I accomplished in my first two playthroughs is absent. My camp is nearly empty. Lae zel’s lifeless body has been laying in my camp for 2 full acts. Karlach, Wyll, Zevlor, Damon, Jaheira, and many others are dead, either by my hand or because of my actions.
I didn’t fully appreciate just how lonely and depressing, self-serving life would be. I have more gold and loot than either of my other playthroughs, and I’m more powerful, but to what end? My own lonely existence? I don’t think that I will continue past this point. I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, which was experience the game as an evil character. I don’t think I need another 50 hours of this to pound the point home.
Hats off to Larian for making such an emotional and realistic game, full of vibrant and exciting characters. I don’t enjoy the world where I have betrayed them all.
I am still highly amused that the bodies of people that die in your camp are carted around to all the different camp sites for the rest of the game.
“Just because they’re dead doesn’t mean they aren’t useful.” - Necromancer
Maybe one can play the evil playthrough only before getting to know all the lovely characters a.k.a. on the first playthrough. That probably helps with the evil. Or you have to be borderline psychopath, I don’t know.
I can highly recommend
Act 3 Durge spoiler
leaning into your urge the whole playthrough then denying Bhaal at the last second and killing the Netherbrain
for the true unhinged, depressing ending.
Make sure to select the “piss yourself” option when the opportunity arises
Yeah, I already pretty much figured that I’m a :::spoiler servant of Bhaal ::: considering the “reward” I got for killing a certain someone.
I will say it’s a bit more complicated than that…
If you can stomach/embrace the evil it opens up some fun/interesting Act 3 stuff. The Durge arc and the “full-send evil” endings for Astarion and Shadynasty specifically were neat to see given how not-evil they can turn out in a “good” playthrough.
What is the evil ending for Astarion? Is it when you let him become a vampire lord? Because I already did that both times. He seemed to really want it, and I didn’t think it would be smart to release 7000 starving vampire spawn into the streets of Baldur’s Gate.
Yeah that’s what I’d say is the “evil” ending, though your point is correct…I liked that his endings are morally ambiguous either way you choose (unlike Shadowheart, whose endings are pretty clearly “good”/“evil”).
I’ve still been playing this evil playthrough, but very sparsely. Shadowheart is already very different from my previous playthroughs, so I guess I will get to see her evil ending if I ever get there.
Oh man. I picked The Dark Urge for my play through with my sister and I have been almost regretting it because god damn this guy is fucked up. It’s been a long time since I’ve been genuinely shocked and upset by happenings in a video game. And we’re not even that far! We just got past the Blighted Village in act 1. It’s her first time, and though I’ve finished the game once already in another run it already feels like a completely different game.
I’m glad I’m not the only one this disturbed by a story. Hats off to Larian indeed; seems like this is gonna be one uncomfortable run.
