I’m on record as wanting the ending for a good (or at least selfless) character to be just a little less bleak, but that’s a long way from feeling that the game is targeted specifically at evil protagonists. If we look at the game as a whole, there are tons of satisfying and genuinely moving moments for a good character. I’ve just completed Act 2 for the third time and the gratitude of the tieflings for saving them, Shadowheart’s reclamation of her heritage and the healing of the shadow-cursed lands I think are all lovely rewards for virtue. And there are moments small and large throughout the game that budding heroes are more likely to come across, from the dance of the myconids to Astarion coming to terms with his past and rejecting what it could have made him into. That is, while the “good” playthrough may be a story of sacrifice, I think the game also does a decent job of showing how the good protagonist leaves the world a better place.
Thanks, @The Red Queen! This is definitely something for me to hold on to as a positive.
Unfortunately the urges are treated the same way as tadpoles. That is, only the binary choice at the end of the questline matters, regardless of whether your character resisted or gave into the urges along the way.
This is how I tend to see almost every "choice" in BG3, and hence why I tend to reject the claim that the game is strong on choice. As I have described it in the past, I believe BG3 gives players the *illusion* of choice, but where in reality most of your choices and actions don't really matter, and only a single critical decision, usually at the very end, matters.
On a side note, you can lean into evil all you want, and still change your mind last minute in the dark urge quest line, and you will get treated as a hero afterwards. Everyone collectively forgets what happened before.
Again, this^
I see this as exactly Larian rewarding players for playing evil, by saying to them: Don't worry. There won't be any *real* consequences for doing all manner of evil things (including eating the tadpoles). In the end, you just have to do one thing, and all of the past is forgiven and forgotten and you get to be acclaimed as the "hero." That is utter b.s.
