Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Lets Talk Romance - Spoilers

Hey gang, I just got to the end of the Tiefling Refugee plotline and I wanted to ask you guys what you thought of the after-party and the romance options. So as many people have criticized that the companions are a little rough round the edges, and definitely not as warm and cuddly as many other RPG games have made their companions. But what I like about the companions featured in BG3 so far is that they feel genuine to the world of D&D.

Its a very difficult world to live in and to be an adventurer in you really do have to take off the rose colored glasses and be prepared for the challenges that life throws at you. Shadowheart is agreeable for the most part, but can be cruel. Lae'zel is basically an interdimensional alien, so I expect her to be completely off her rocker in comparison to morality and the general mindset of your average Forgotten Realms species. Astarion is just a horny vampire slut, which I realized within .03 seconds of meeting him. Gale is pretty cool, I am still learning his story, and Wyll is a demons cuck trying to hide behind the bravado is a swordsman. What I am getting at here is that this is a rag tag team of unlikely companions and the chemistry between them isn't exactly clear.

Now, idk how you guys have played but my main character has been butting heads with his party constantly. I am playing a knowledge hungry wizard who is desperate to unlock the powers of magic and the universe. I've been using my illithid powers, selfishly unlocked the secrets from the Book of Thay, and have in general been pretty cruel and merciless. Lae'zel is mad at me for using my powers and not resisting the Mind Flayers, Shadowheart is also mad at me, but we have decent conversations now and again, and Astarion is just kinda there. However, at the party both Astarion, and Shadowheart want to bang. Lae'zel hinted at it, Wyll and Gale are just hanging out.

What I am getting at is that after all the party strife the companions still want to romance. Have you guys experienced the same thing? Am I wrong for thinking that the party dynamics and your relationships with companions are kinda broken? It just doesn't seem to make sense and it killed my immersion. What are your thoughts and opinions, lets dicuss!

I've had the same experience. Shadowheart hinted at the possibility of romance but that I'd been too against her, which was kinda weird because I'd been playing in line with her approval throughout the game so far, but I guess it was just a matter of not having met her approval requirement. Shadowheart didn't hint at anything at all, Gale expressed interest as did Asterion and I think Wyll did but I can't quite remember. So it all felt kinda rushed and awkward, especially since I had only rested at camp about three or four times up to that point so there hadn't been a lot of interaction between us yet.

So, we have options:
1. Shadowheart - zealot lunatic, who didn't trust anyone.
2. Homicidal savage, who are sneaky enough to trying feed on us in sleep.
3. Extradimensional alien, who looks like a rat.
4. Adult child with hero complex.
5. And possessed wizard (ok, this one is not bad enough for romance).
I am actually romance Mintara and join the Absolute, at least she is honest with us.

I wish I had rested three or four times. There have been some dicey combat situations in my playthrough so far. I agree it definitely feels rushed and awkward, I hate to do comparisons between two VASTLY different games but in games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect you don't ever reach the climax or romance until the very end. So maybe our minds are hard wired by other RPG's to expect a longer relationship development. Maybe there are plans that we're unaware of that will make sense as the game continues to be developed.

Hahaha true enough! I actually flirted with the Liefling girl, I can't recall how to spell her name but it started with an 'L'.
We'll see how that pans out, but I'm not really feeling the romance with any of the companions so far.

I hadn't seen this topic and recently created one similar in Suggestions. The "romance" happens fast and makes no sense. There definitely should have been way more conversations where characters at least show an interest in you before hand. Get some flirting happening back and forth at least. As is, the companions don't really care for your character and hate it when you start a conversation with them. They go from that to, "let's find someplace quiet"?

Going by the Shadowheart's romance scene, those aren't the climax of the romances:

Ahh okay, I saved and logged off the game last night before that scene would occur. I still think that the relationship building is weak right now. But that is what these discussions are for!

Well, I did romance Astarion in my first run (also, I dunno, he didn't come off as gay to me in the least, just a shameless flirt - also, yes, I'm a married woman so)... it was real quick tho, he goes on from hating my good ways, to liking me letting him do his thing with his vampirism and then suddenly, it's party time and he's like 'let's bang, mkay?'. And then... I realized a missed a lot of content with companions cause I made it a point to not use tadpole powers a single time during my first playthrough through the EA. Was curious if it would make any difference, but nope. You just skip a crapload of content that way... maybe Larian has something planned for people like me further down the line? Anyway, I decided to make more or less the same choices again, but this time whenever I see a tadpole dialogue option, I will take it, save scum it if need be. Like I'm legit curious how much extra content there is for players who just let themselves be corrupted by the tadpole. Come full release I ofc will do 2 runs again - 1 with 0 tadpole abusing, and another with full blown mind control and see the differences in endings. Larian, you best not make it goddamn Mass Effect 3 - 3 color ending fiasco. Just saying. :P

I have to be honest and say I find none of the companions interesting in the romantic interest way, Lae'zel comes the closest. If I could, I'd choose Halsin or Zevlor over all of them.

I have to agree that the romancing goes rather fast. So far I had only 1 love interest that was mutual, but there were allready intamite moments at the celebration campfire.

Ive only gotten to one kiss in EA, which doesnt seem a lot 25ish hours into the game. Afterwards I even got the cold shoulder treatment. Hopefully romances are a game-long thing that will evolve over time.

What did feel a little weird was how every companion seemed interested at the celebration, no matter what standing I had with them in general. Lae'zel dissapproves of everything I do and she was still dissappointed when my character went for Shadowheart.

That's less interest in you and more her dislike for Shadowheart, I think.

Lae'Zel hated my choices the entire game and she also complained about my characters interest in Asterion, and after that she said she's gonna bang Wyll. You can even ask her how she liked the night with him after you've had your own with your love interest. I'll bet even if she bangs Asterion she'd complain about him being inadequate. LMAO Now I wish there was a way to confront Wyll/Asterion/whoever else she chooses about their night with Lae, making it even more awkward.

The whole romance thing is just out of the blue. You are in a party talking to someone you barely know, and suddenly from nowhere they tell you "if you weren't so bad to me maybe I would've allowed you to be with me tonight"... what is this? I don't even know you guys? why every single companion suddenly need to tell me how they will or won't have sex with me? and if they don't like me why be so passive aggressive and tell me how I missed the chance to sleep with them? people don't talk like this, it's weird.

The more I play, the more I wish that every conversation with your companions had the option "Stick your dagger through their eye."

Yes, exactly. There needs to be more leading up to their interest in us. Like I love romances in games, I just wish they were a bit more fleshed out. I also tried messing with the tadpole a bit, got those dreams and stuff I spoke of earlier, I think I understand why Larian was asking us to play evil - cause as of now, these dreams and getting these tadpole powers fleshes the companions out a bit, but yeah, you only get these cutscenes IF you use the illithid tadpole options on people.

I agree with this. I had all the companions wishing to bone down with my player character and being put out when I chose someone else, and it was so jarring based on their cagey and distant dispositions that they had displayed throughout so far, that it threw me out of the game. The only one I could see doing this regardless of approval ratings is Astarion because it feels like seduction is how he usually got things done in the past. I feel like Lae'zhal and Shadowheart should be complaining about even having a party in the first place.

The whole "talking to all these people, who are virtually strangers and who have treated me as a stranger or acquaintance at best, about who I'm having sex with tonight" is extremely awkward and should be reconsidered.

This is still in Early Access and Larian said this might last a year. The romance that we have currently available in the game is just a taste to give us an idea of what they are doing. That's why when your character has sex it says "Under Construction" because they are still working on it. If you feel the romance is rushed, keep in mind that the game is not finished yet. When you got the Early Access, it tells you to give Larian feedback so they know what they should add or work on and that's what these forums are for.

The party romances are especially awkward since some companions have flirted with each other (Gale with Shadowheart, Astarion with Gale) but never with the player character as far as I experienced. Suddenly having half the camp go "we'll bang, okay?" without any buildup was a disorienting let down.

I adore romance in games, so am reluctant to complain about it when honestly I'm just happy it's included. But the anticlimactic intimacy scenes speak to a bigger problem with companions, I think.

There aren't enough "little" moments with the party to really care that much about them, and the moments currently included are completely miss-able. For example, I completely went from hating to adoring Astarion after the giddy way he reacted to Ethel at the tiefling camp. When I replayed, that reaction triggered for Shadowheart instead and I lost out on appreciating a large part of Astarion's chaotic-playful personality.