Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Tav vs Durge vs Origin Character Playthroughs

the sun on his skin feels like "a caress of a lover who doesn't know better yet".

It felt weirdly inconsistent. Sure, you get a few things here and there about how you experience the engine and all that, but... there are some aspects that just haven't been taken into consideration. You can pet Scratch in Act I already, its the very same animation as it is with any other character, but somehow that doesn't burn the dog?
There is a few moments like that that feel a bit off.

(not fully evil though, basically just skipped Karlach instead of killing her because I just cannot bring myself to do that lol)

killed Isobel, became Bhaal's chosen and had Jaheira and Minsc killed, had Astarion ascend

O.O ARE WE DEAD? AM I DEAD? FOR REAL? THIS IS MY ENDING?
Then Withers popped in, like a mushroom, waved his hand around and I was all better. 8D

Jaheria and Minsc attacked me.

I really want to watch the end cutscene with Gale and Mystra. I want to know if he uses or returns the crown.

I always advise him to return it to Mystra, as that power doesn't belong to mortal and would absolutely corrupt him. I want Mystra to free him of the Netherese orb.

For the cleric it is easy to forgive Nettie the deception attempt, and the fact that she wanted to poison her. She understands the reasoning, and doesn't find it in herself to be angry about it. She will promise to take the poison in case anything goes wrong.
My druid has the opposite reaction. She expected as much, but she's not going to walk away from that, risking anything to happen. And she definitely is not going to make any promises.

You can miss the deal with Raphael easily by not instantly jumping to the option when it appears during the dialogue in front of the mausoleum - and then you better hope your last save-spot isn't Last Light.

that I didn't have the option to talk with anyone else about the scars. Yes, Companion-Astarion is very secretive about them but when I am playing the character, I think I should have some degree of autonomy about whom my character trusts with his secrets - and with a wizard boyfriend and Karlach as a besti, these two would have been quite good options to at least address the topic with .... Which is especially odd since during Shadowheart's wine scene, you are given an opportunity to open up about Astarion's past.

Gale's romance explores none physical forms of intimacy and the guy is almost painfully sincere in his affection. (Also, he is well cast in the role of the lonely, powerful fool to wrap around your finger for protection only to have him pull the rug from under your feet. ^^; Sorry, Gale.)

Also Gale kindly replaced some missing plot beats. For example is Astarion's Origin missing the whole Araj situation. There is no Tav who could make him drink from Araj or respect his decision because in this reality Astarion is Tav. So the whole bit about him reflecting about not wanting to be used as a pretty body is missing as a plot point, it just never comes up.

When romancing Gale, there is a moment after a fight in the shadows when he comes up to the pc and tells them (I paraphrase) that their battle prowess and facing dangers at their side makes them only more desirable. For me, this worked extremely well for Astarion (to the point that I wondered if it had been made for him) because it appreciates the pc's fighting skills and treats the body as an instrument of the pc's own agency rather than a thing to be ogled and used by others. It's not quite the same as the Araj situation, but it might inspire similar thoughts.

While Origin-Astarion has to deal with most of his stuff on his own, Origin-Gale gets Tara, his beloved Tressym, to be his emotional support and provide some background information. Tara is a darling and I miss her dearly when in another save, as her and Gale's interactions are adorable. She also offers the much needed resistance against Mystra's command during Act 2, should you wish to really commit yourself to roleplaying the whole suicide angle. I loved that.

Another detail I loved was, that they made Gale's condition actually a little bit painful. In his Companion version, you usually have assembled some useless items by the time Gale's condition requires treatment, in his Origin, it strikes after the first Long Rest. Luckily, your good friend Tara has brought you a very nice (and very rare) ring the night before, an actually useful one. Since you usually don't have many magical items at this point in the game and the ones you have, are all rather nice, it's for once not such a trivial matter to destroy one, which makes his situation in relation feel more server.

What impressed me most though, was Act2 in general. In the Companion-Version, whenever the orb and the explosion come up, it is generally discussed in the context of Gale's sacrifice and the explosion radius. In the Origin-Version, you are encouraged to carefully think through your decision. This turns the whole affair into a detective story in which you try to find out more about the Absolute and have to draw conclusions about the effect Gale's explosion could have in the grander scheme of things. It is such a perfect roleplay incentive for an int based character. Apart from this, you are presented with several small moments in which to reflect about Gale's position, thoughts and feelings. For example, when Gale goes to bedroll after Astarion's little "let's take over the cult" bit, the narrator prompts you to think about what might wait at Moonrise and applies some of Astarion's ideas to Gale's situation. It's a beautiful rendition of manipulation working on a troubled mind. Loved it.

As with Astarion's Origin, you are left a little bit alone in regards to dealing with your character's own troubles. In an ordinary game, Gale has Tav's friendship or love that pulls him from the edge. In his Origin, Gale has Tara who does not want him to explode, while everyone else is caught up in their own affairs. It is very bleak, but nicely reflects the extremely depressed state he is in as a companion - and made the moment, when Astarion makes his confession especially impactful.

Romancing Astarion in general worked insanely well for Gale's Origin (and vice versa), because both stories not only deal with the same larger theme, but follow the same pace. For example, in Act 1 Gale sees his only worth in his magical power while yearning for connection, so Astarion exploiting him for this power while faking connection, is a good fit. At the beginning of Act 2 it's kind of nice to have someone - apart from one's cat - who is also invested in maybe not blowing the Absolute up ... I could go on but this text is already way too long. I am just adding this because I am not sure, if I had been as happy with the play-through, if I had romanced anyone else.

There are some inconsistencies, for example you can invite Astarion to drink your blood, which shouldn't be an option because Gale's blood is poisonous and while Aunti Ethel complains about the Netherese magic surrounding the tadpole, the Netherese magic in the rest of the wizard does not seem to bother her, but oh well, it was still great fun.

As with Astarion you loose a lot of the voice acting, which is a shame, really, since I love Gale's input. In general I wish that Origin characters would remain included in the party banter even if they are your Avatar. I love listening to those weirdo's argue and especially Gale and Lae'zel have some really sweet conversations. They helped endearing Lae'zel to me, as Gale's openminded attitude allows her to show a different side of herself.

My biggest gripe with both Spawnstarion and Gale's Origin is that you cannot save Karlach though. Those nasty rays of sun and that impatient goddess! Really Mystra, you could have waited two more minutes...