So I was tricked by the developers and played a custom character for my first playthrough.
Of course, I missed a huge chunk of the story by not playing Durge and the further I went through the story the less it made sense. Why did the prism choose VeryGenericMan(Tav)? Well, the Netherbrain tells you that the whole Emperor protecting you thing was planned for. But why stick to Tav in particular? Tav is a level one nobody with no history of accomplishments or anything that indicates that they could take down three Chosen, who from DnD lore are supposed to be among the top dogs of the mortal world.
In fact, even some of the other origins aren't compatible with the Emperor's manipulations. It makes even less sense for the anti-Gith Emperor to stick with an anti-illithid rookie like Lae'zel. Could maybe work with Gale but again he's an F up at that point with obligations to Mystra. I guess Shadowheart works, because she stole the prism in the first place, and Karlach who has no other option.
Enter the Dark Urge origin which solves a lot of these questions. It makes sense why the prism sticks to them. After all at their height they were a demigod pretty much and were the only one the elder brain respected.
When I first played it I knew Durge was the Bhaalspawn but I had no idea what's the connection with the main plot. It was around Moonrise tower where you get the first hints in one of the best interactions in the entire game with Steelclaw, the cat who tells you that you were calling the shots not too long ago. Then you enter the tower and you get another missable great interaction in Ketheric's throne room where he hints that he knows you and all the others in the towers do as well. Agh it still annoys me that I didn't get to experience this for my first playthrough.
So why is the origin system flawed if playing Durge can give a satisfactory answer? Well, when you head up stairs as Durge to Z'rell she doesn't even know you! Neither does Balthazar nor most of the cult throughout the game! There's simply no reaction from those who should know that they're dealing with a crazy murder demigod. Not only do you miss half the story if you didn't choose Durge but there's also very little reactivity even for Durge.
I think the devs should've just focused on the Bhaalspawn origin and not allocate their resources to making every companion playable. I always hear the same argument that what Larian did isn't new, the original games had premade characters...etc. This argument is 100% false. Picking a premade character doesn't change the origin. You're still Gorion's Ward, you still grew up in Candlekeep with Imoen,...etc. Unfortunately, not picking Durge is like playing as a random companion in BG1/2, picking Shadowheart is playing as Morrigan in DA:O, and Lae'zel might as well be Dakkon in Planescape Torment.
Larian shouldn't have tried to reinvent the wheel with the origin system when games like DA:O already had a perfect one which connects you to the world. In this case we can only play a Bhaalspawn but with a different backstory before they got to the temple. Example; a Bhaalspawn who was an orphan and lived off of scraps and a Bhaalspawn who was raised by nobility and then one day the urge kicked in and then next thing you know they're in daddy's temple. The point is you have to be the Durge for the story to work.
I wish Larian would just release the darker early access story with Daisy and Tavdurge
