Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Total number of companions : disappointment over the Dark Urge

Because I think it's not as deep as people are thinking. I don't think it's going to be a Bhaalspawn or anything that important, rather an excuse for players to let loose and do some crazy violent shit like take off Gale's arm.

Which itself is kinda odd. Like I can certainly imagine some of the more ....morally-compromised Origins or Tav's doing something like that. Asterion or maybe Lae'zel...a cleric of Bhaal or Lolth etc. DO hyper-violent choices have to be locked behind this 'intrusive thoughts' origin?

Probably not Bhaalspawn but most certainly tied to Bhaal. Likely some sort of chosen of Bhaal:
https://preview.redd.it/vtfupy0abla...239e82b5f656b1046c0f2986c413e72158c28bde

Well, 1:21:43 "You are the chosen one" and a symbol of bhaal. So I suspect there is quite a different game ending possible with the Dark Urges and I wouldn't rule out that we are a Bhaalspawn.

We posted almost the same thing at almost the same time lol!

I am simultaneously very happy with a non-predetermined Origin like Dark Urge and disappointed in the total number of companions.

On the one hand: An in-depth, story-based backstory for my custom character that doesn't pigeonhole me into a specific character or personality and allows me to play any race or class.

On the other hand: Not an in-depth companion for each class. Apparently no story companion for the role of monk, sorcerer, or bard. Some may have to choose between story engagement and party composition.

I guess I will be playing a Dark Urge monk/sorcerer/bard for my first playthrough.

You cannot have been a murder hobo and then later on magically become a hero. All the killing of innocents you did doesn't get offset by all the killing you now don't do. It doesn't work that way. If you used to do horrible things, all the "good" things you may now do don't even in the slightest make up for or erase all that evil you did in the past. So Larian can say all they want that DU can be a "hero," but that's complete B.S. DU can NEVER be a true hero (and ditto for the other original origins).

I generally agree with your feelings about the lack of good in the player party but I do have to disagree with you here. I very firmly disagree that one can't turn away from past wrongs to be a "true" hero. You're right that the good done in the present doesn't cancel out the evil done in the past, but at the same time the evil done in the past doesn't cancel out good done in the present. I firmly believe that it's never too late to turn away from a dark path and do better, be better. You're not entitled to praise, acceptance or forgiveness for it, but if you're devoted to doing good and making the world a better place, then you can very much be a hero. Or at the very least, you can be a good guy.

You sure they used 'a hero' as in a heroic sense? May be it was just a word that equals 'a character'. By the way, heavy sins don't cut you off from becoming a better man and atoning for them. Watch some Vinland Saga or something

Actually one bad deed can totally erase an infinite amount of good deeds, it doesn't matter if you want to change and be better, it doesn't bring someones child or husband or parent or whatever back. You will forever be a bad guy.

The very notion of Repentance: And I took that personally.

And I'm not disagreeing with most of what you say here myself. A person who used to do bad things not doing those bad things anymore is certainly an improvement, and therefore a good thing. But as you yourself say here, that person is not entitled to praise or forgiveness, i.e., you don't get to be a hero. You stop being a bad guy, but you don't get transformed into a good guy. And as @william85 aptly points out, no matter how much good you do now, the people you killed don't ever get their lives back and the families of those killed don't ever get their loved ones back. Death is permanent, and therefore so is--and must be--the stain on your life for what you did.

I also expected an Origin Character and not only a choosable backstory. And after everything pointing to a male Dragonborn, which was exactly what I hoped for (down to the class even!), it disappointed me quite a bit. In hindsight the difference seems to come down to "Origin Character" and "Origin" but without precedent it did raise false hopes for me. Just had to get that off my chest

Another thing that I find a bit strange is that every companion that has been added is someone we already met in EA or know from the other titles. I'm glad we can get a cleary good-aligned character like Halsin as a companion but I somewhat expected entirely new companions maybe later in the game as well.

Don't get me wrong, I find many character of the cast enjoyable and probably will have many many hours of fun getting to know their stories, but especially in regards to the many races we have the diversity of companions seems a bit lacking.

One thing I will note about 'The Dark Urge' and the concept around it...

I hope when Larian makes DOS3 or BG4 (whatever their next project is) they end up altering the character creation system. I hope they do away with origin characters and instead make more recruitable companions as they seem to take significantly less work. I would rather have more recruitable companions to play along with custom characters than any origin characters.

Then I hope rather than just having a single custom backstory they have multiple dark urge type custom origins to choose from that impact the game as you play. For instance they could have (and these are all very basic)...

The Commoner - There has been nothing particularly special about your life. You are a lowly peasant in the great kingdom - farming, selling wares or raising a family. This is the story of your rise to being a hero or becoming a villain.
The Hero - You are well known throughout the realms as someone who slays evil creatures and helps people. You will be recognized wherever you go. Are you the hero they praise or is their faith in you misguided?
The Pact - You have made a pact with a powerful being to gain great power at the cost of personal freedom. Will you continue to obey the dark creature you are pledged to or break free?
The Dark Urge - Murder urges. Will you give in or resist?

I heartily agree with you Plisko. If they double down on that for their next game instead of origin characters, I'd be actually excited to get in on that.

That's pretty much how Dragon Age Origins did their 'Origins' and I much preferred that method.

Some content creators state there may be more (1-2) companions. Clearly the Origin line- up is set but there can be more companions Ala Minsc in Act 2 or beyond

Could be plot spoiler reasons Ala Saravek in BG2

Final companion reveal:
“Hey it’s me, Abdel Adrian. It’s Bhaalin time.”

That's a bit harsh, since we don't really know the circumstances. It may well be that in terms of personality, the Durge we play isn't quite the same as the Durge that used to engage in carnage for the joy of it. It may well be the case that our former self completely lacked the ability to resist such urges, much like a mosquito that bites, a fly that buzzes around annoyingly, or that neighbor who always has to mow his damn lawn extremely early in the morning. We can hardly blame less than fully sentient creatures for acting in accordance with their nature.

And if the present Durge is different from the previous one, can we really blame this Durge for all the action committed by previous Durges? It might be the same body but it isn't strictly speaking the same mind in the body.

It would be a bit like blaming your unstable computer for throwing your thesis away when it crashed while running WinME, and then still having a grudge against it after you upgrade the OS to Win 2k. Are you really going to argue that your computer can never be a reliable system, just because it used to lack control while running WinME?

Note the difference in terminology here:

Origin character.
Origin.

So yeah, you're still at six origin *characters*, but have one more origin to choose from. As advertised.