Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion I have never been mocked so hard for choosing a romance route in a game before

OP, I just want to say that I completely and totally understand your feelings and frustration. The game stirred up emotions in you (in me as well, and in many others too). Then suddenly, it's like everything you believed, thought, and experienced in the game just collapses—and it feels like a slap in the face.

But! Don't let it take away your enjoyment of what is otherwise a brilliant game. I've started looking at it more as an exaggerated piece of fanservice meant to cater to a specific group. It seems the developers didn’t want to change anything—they thought it was fine the way it is. We just have to accept that, unfortunately, there’s nothing we can really do anymore.

One thing’s for sure, though: I’m convinced the developers never intended to humiliate Shadowheart’s character. I’d rather say her character was, in a way, sacrificed on the altar of fanservice, which is annoying, of course, but don’t let two or three optional lines ruin the character for you — they don’t define who she is!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, empathy and openness, that's a very healthy point of view.

But the more I think about it, the more I got frustrated by this whole this and how it got handled both by writers, and the community (not everyone, of course). Shadowheart's backstory involves brainwashing and sexual coercion in the cult, and the way she is eager to jump in into orgy, incestuos on top of that, is a betrayal of her arc and grotesque contradiction of what she has endured. It flies in the face of her trauma, her development, and any attempt to treat her past with respect.

Halsin not only make constant creepy advances towards the player and their partner, but also was a drow's sex slave. And how he remarks about this? "Not without it's positives. Doing things that were less than necessary", he tells us that he enjoyed it, and that's why he was eager to butt in. This is just dangerously flippant. Framing it as a joke is beyond disgusting. It seem to normalize, sexualize, or dismiss abuse — especially when it’s repackaged later as “fun” or “optional fantasy.” It’s just heartbreaking.

The topic should be handled with care, many people see games, especially immersive ones, as a form of escapism. So yeah, I have never been mocked so hard for choosing romance option before. I will never tag along with the dismissal of sexual abuse, in any form, in any medium. I will never tag along with the idea that rape is fun in hindsight, or that being broken by a cult can be waved away when it’s convenient for a sex scene that is a mockery of the whole ordeal. Nor do I accept the normalization of incestuous scenarios, even in fantasy, as mere fan service. And how is that is not a broader issue is beyond me. People who addressed this usually dismissed as prudish or ridicule. Fantasy doesn’t excuse this. "It’s just a game" doesn’t excuse this. You can explore dark themes with care — Larian just laughed at this. I guess this game is not for me, I wanted to enjoy it, I love DnD and the gameplay, but I guess I will never go back to this game. I have never being that hurt before by the game content.