Baldur's Gate III has a myriad of ways that it can be played. The options of the game seem nigh on endless and thousands of players have been trying every angle that they possibly can. Roleplaying games are, after all, a place where gamers are invited to explore different stories and options. The idea of making themselves the greatest hero of the realm or, in some cases, one of the greatest threats to it. It doesn't come as a shock that Baldur's Gate III would give the player these options and so many more. With the many different ways in which to complete the game, it is a joy to explore all the different solutions.
There is one Origin, however, that drastically changes the course of the game: the Dark Urge. The Dark Urge is intimidating at first and the developers recommend saving it for subsequent playthroughs after the first because of how drastically different it is. The player character is far darker, far more haunted, and often feels like an antagonist to the players themselves as the journey unravels. It is easily one of the best examples of psychological horror in the RPG genre.
The Dark Urge Reads Like A Horror Novel
The Dark Urge presents as default as a white dragonborn character when selected in the character creation menu, and it is completely customizable. The description of the origin mentions that the character has lost their memory but is plagued with the desire to commit atrocities. Murder, torture, and all manner of depravity squirms in their mind right next to the tadpole. The player is "gifted" a servant named Sceleritas Fel, a murderous fey creature that is all too happy to see the kind of carnage that the main character can cause. He is constantly whispering temptation to the player, insisting on giving in to the instinct to murder and maim. He is often the first one to point out when a party member is vulnerable or when there is a good opportunity to draw blood. He is a subservient devil upon the player's shoulder, occupying a Lady Macbeth space to drag the player deeper into that spiral. Every time the player gives it, it becomes harder and harder to resist the call of instinct. Right off the bat, the main character can be reminded of their love of death and carnage and fight to keep the grin off of their face.
Oftentimes, the amnesia plot can feel like a bit of a cop-out—but in the Dark Urge, it creates a foreboding horror. The narrative changes around the origin make it feel like the tadpole isn't the biggest threat in the room. For many players, there would be something eerie about how quickly moments shift into darker instincts as the character revels in cruelty or desperately fights against these instincts, horrified at themselves. Whether playing the Dark Urge as a murderous killer or as a confused wreck, the wording and atmosphere make it all feel so intensely wrong. It is often even worse if the player tries to fight those urges, The panic and pain that well up as rolls are made to resist feel very visceral because of the brilliant prose that pulls the story together.
There are many options where, for example, the Dark Urge can be interacting with their lover and suddenly get the urge to snap their neck. Party members can suddenly turn up dead in camp, having died at the hands of the player character while they were blacked out. All the while, Fel cheers on those slips and murders, encouraging more and more while demanding more blood. He actively discourages the desire to resist, making it harder and harder to keep it together if that's what the player is going for. Giving in also creates an environment of fear for the other characters in the party (well most of them anyway), and the tension can feel incredibly thick in the camp for a player who doesn't know what's going to happen next. There is a reason for this inclination toward violence, but that would be getting into incredible spoiler territory which would defeat the purpose of playing it. The lore is definitely worth the playthrough, though, even for more squeamish players.
All of these differences can be incredibly intimidating for players of the game, especially those who choose to be paragons of light in their RPG careers. However, for those gamers who love psychological horror, it is more than worth it.
The Dark Urge Is Truly Scary
Psychological horror is probably one of the harder genres to pull off effectively. Silent Hill is the champion of the genre, managing to get in players' heads and turn them inside out. This particular style of horror relies less on jump scares or intense action and more on the subtle art of manipulating the viewer. The goal is to make the audience uncomfortable, preying upon the parts of the psyche that feel empathy or have worked to suppress the darker parts of their minds. Silent Hill 2, for example, famously uses the tale of James Sunderland and his romp through the titular town to draw the player in while slowly turning them against James. Oftentimes, the relationship between the player and the character in these types of games feels contentious, as if the player themselves is the thing that the main character is seeking to repress as they trudge toward their ending, whether the player themselves is trying to help or damn them.
The Dark Urge Origin is a masterful show of this particular concept and brings it seamlessly to the RPG genre. This kind of horror is intensely difficult even with confined narratives that players are expected to follow. In an RPG of Baldur's Gate III's scope, it should have been nigh on impossible. Crafting a good horror experience requires curation and careful thought which Larian Studios put into this narrative manages to create that sort of specialized experience without sacrificing player choice. With a character this specifically tortured, that is a hefty writing task on its own. Managing to create a universe in which some characters want to indulge with the player while others feel the creeping sensation of being prey lying in the den of a predator is incredibly complex and brilliant.
RPGs require the player to have some sort of trust in the character that they're playing. Based on their class or stats, the gamer can build characters that can do exactly what they need in the situations that they're sure to come up against. The Dark Urge takes some of that trust away and foments an environment where the player cannot trust the character and the other characters are also in deep danger. But this doesn't prevent the player from doing what they need which is often more insidious. Just as the party is reliant on the Dark Urge, so too is the player and thus the cycle of fear is upheld unless the player gives up on the run. The horror builds naturally as the stress within the story builds, and the truth is slowly uncovered. For fans of horror and RPGs, the Dark Urge is an amazing experience that should not be missed.