I don't think you will be able to do a "good" Dark Urge. From the RockPaperShotgun preview :
Some of the Urge’s setpieces have a dissociative quality. At one point, while passing through a druid’s grove, Ding encouraged me to go and say hello to a squirrel. Before I knew it, the camera had snapped to a nearby tree, just in time to see the squirrel’s body splatted against the bark. It’s a scene that demonstrates Larian’s growing confidence with cinematic staging - distancing you uncomfortably from your own actions by keeping them out of frame.
Yet the squirrel was just the start of it. Back at camp, I tucked myself into bed, only to discover a brutalised corpse of my own making during the night. There followed a sequence in which I was given the option to marvel at my handiwork, wash my hands of blood, and hide the body in the bushes. Most intriguingly of all, the whole sequence played out beyond the view of my co-op partner - leaving it up to me to confess the crime, or not. It strikes me as a classic tabletop dynamic - with one player given the choice to hide their cards, and delight in the transgressive glee of keeping a secret from the table.
Oh wow. Okay, thanks a lot, this answers my second question so much more than I hoped.
So it's clear. The Dark Urge won't just be about experiencing the urges and choosing to resist or give in; sometimes the Urge will simply take over and we'll have to deal with the aftermath. This sounds incompatible with a traditional good character and trying to resist will likely end up tragic and messy. Either way that's very good to know ahead of time.
Yup. It's hilarious the mental gymnastics people are pushing out to try and spin being able to play the DU as good. No. The DU is inherently evil. Trying to claim "the voices in my head made me do it" doesn't fly. You kill innocent people, you are evil. There is no good path with the DU.
What I especially don't get is why people are even bothering with the spin. If people want to play evil, Larian has made *the* perfect game for you. At least be honest that playing evil is what you want to do.
On a philosophical level, no, if something takes control of your body and forces you to preform actions against your will you are not aware of then you are not evil. That does not fit any philosophical definition of evil, as the ontology of evil requires consciousness and free will, both of which are stripped away in the scenario. Legally, you aren’t culpable, either, though magical mental domination would be difficult to prove in court.
Second, don’t accuse people of being disingenuous. That’s obnoxious. Playing as an evil character holds no interest for me, but playing as a good character with no memory and beset by an evil voice in their head sounds like the most interesting, badass opportunity to roleplay that I’ve come across since The Nameless One.
