Regarding 'The Dark Urge', Canon, and Why You Should Play The Route.

[Aviator Jake]

Keeping the spoilers to as close of a minimum as possible, I think that the marketing of The Dark Urge, along with the Player Origin "Tav" being the default does the game a greater disservice than not having Player Origin at all. The most significant difference between The Dark Urge and the other companions is that, like the Player Origin, it is completely custom when it comes to race and class, not being locked like the companion origin characters, very similar to DOS2's design. The difference, however, between the Player Origin and The Dark Urge as far as narrative structure is night and day. Looking at The Dark Urge's route at face value in this game alone, it opens up a flood of options in terms of dialogue and voice acting (There are thousands of lines exclusive to this route done wonderfully, especially the "Narrator" but by the other great VAs as well), it gives agency to dozens if not hundreds of NPC's that, without the route, feel wasted in terms of potential (Even multiple characters in Act I), and it gives context to the wider plot as a whole, opening up brand new routes that, on any other character, are not even an option to choose. While this makes sense with the companion characters (Again, similar to DOS2's companion design and the inherent limits put upon them), all of this content is completely LOST when choosing the Player Origin, and this is NOT imparted onto the player during character customization. As someone who followed the development cycle of the game, I was aware of The Dark Urge and had a general idea of how they played into the plot and narrative as a whole regarding their mysterious origin, but putting the option in the Companion Origin does the route major disservice in what it actually is for the game - an arguably harder, but more true route of the game, or in other words, the canon route the game SHOULD promote. The advertisement of it being a harder, more "evil" route is also, without spoiling anything, somewhat misleading in its true purpose in the story.

++ MILD SPOILERS FOR BALDUR'S GATE 1 - 3 ONWARD, NO MAJOR NARRATIVE SPOILERS FOR 3 ++

Regarding The Dark Urge in terms of the Baldur's Gate franchise as a whole, it is, quite literally and directly, the most logical successor to the previous titles due to both recurring characters and their interactions with the player, and also recurring themes regarding the overall structure of the story. The route not only opens up multiple endings that are exclusive to the route, but it also acts as a modifier to all other endings - If you take The Dark Urge route, you CANNOT get the standard "ending" that one normally does, but instead a variation of the ending with added context and content. The fact that the endings are not unique on their own but rather modifiers to the existing endings, at least to me, suggests that the route is intended to be the most significant of those possibly chosen. Additionally, there are individuals in the story that, without The Dark Urge route, feel very out of place , and this is seen as early as Act I - even within an hour of playtime if you're quick. For those who haven't beaten the game, I will not spoil who this is, but for those who have and watched through the end credits, the character referenced is quite explicit - especially with their connection to The Dark Urge. It is because of this - the endings being modified instead of a standalone ending, the narrative structure of Baldur's Gate as a series, the interactions with characters/companions that are otherwise lost, the inclusion of NPCs that without the route feel tacked on without proper purpose, and especially how the credits is treated with a specific character - that The Dark Urge is honestly the most "canon" and unique route to take.

This isn't to put down the Player Origin (necessarily...) or the Companions. I believe, like with DOS2, that the game merits multiple playthroughs with the companions as it opens up wider contexts for the story. However, with how similar specifically Player Origin is to The Dark Urge, I believe the latter should have either been the standard choice of the two, or simply baked into the Player Origin directly, removing the option of The Dark Urge and instead integrating the content directly into the Player Origin.

One of the most significant arguments against this, from a role-playing perspective, is that it does a couple adverse things:

-Breaks certain (specific) classes
-Can significantly change a playthrough with "bad" roles
-People don't want to play an evil-aligned character

Tackling these issues one at a time, I believe that all three are ultimately born out of ignorance of the route, coupled with advertising that is, at its worse, misleading. There is a specific class that has a "break" function within it. While there are workarounds to being a Paladin and running The Dark Urge, it is understandable that you don't want to be pouring gold to constantly fix your oath. However, from a narrative standpoint I believe it actually BENEFITS the route, especially with a specific camp character that shows up when playing as the class. Additionally, the route does not necessitate that YOU are evil - this sounds contradictory, especially with all the squirrel-kicking, but it is hard to define without major spoilers. That being said, it is still a significant issue that is understandable for wanting to not play the route.

Regarding "Bad" roles, while I understand the want to succeed every role, there is a narrative and gameplay benefit to 'failing' certain roles. Not only does it add variation for extra playthroughs, but it also shows the importance of SAVING INSPIRATION ROLES. While this mechanic is cool and fun outside of The Dark Urge route, it is absolutely critical to playing The Dark Urge, and is also tied HEAVILY with the narrative. Again, without major spoilers it is hard to describe in detail, but playing as The Dark Urge gives an urgency to roles unlike any other route and really shines in using the Table-top holdovers such as saving roles and role modifiers in the narrative. It wasn't until playing The Dark Urge that I realized how critical inspiration saves were, and how important rationing them was, even if it meant having to fail one role and save the inspiration role, even if it means there are dire consequences. Only on The Dark Urge do roles feel as tense as humanly possible, where every saved inspiration role is the literal difference between life and death - though maybe not yours...

Finally, regarding not wanting to play an evil route, this is again a tragedy of the marketing of The Dark Urge to the wider BG3 audience. It is presented as the "Evil" route all but explicitly, and this does a MAJOR disservice to the actual content of the route. Yes, you can be evil and indulge in carnage, but that is only ONE way of playing The Dark Urge, and the developers were very direct in it being but one way to play. Again, without spoiling anything major, any character of ANY alignment is able to play The Dark Urge without having to fully compromise and find not only enjoyment, but fulfillment in the narrative itself as whatever alignment you want to play. There are some actions out of your control, but its the ones WITHIN your control that are truly what makes the route shine as the best in the game. What I expected as the "bad guy edgy evil" route turned into something else entirely, though that option was still very much available for those who want to let their inner demon out.

++SPOILER END++

For those who have played the route, do you agree? Do you disagree? Why? The purpose with this post (hopefully) is to bring more discussion to the route itself, as it seems that it isn't getting the shine that, at least I believe, it deserves. Personally, I would love to see The Dark Urge moved up next to where the Player Origin is, as it would be much more appropriate for what the route actually is - calling it a companion route or even similar to a companion route is honestly, in my opinion, just factually wrong and does the route and game a major disservice.

[Kyutaru]

The Dark Urge makes the most sense to play as given this is a Baldur's Gate game. For those who know the series, your character's motivations should be exceptionally familiar.

[Chris]

Tav is not your origin lol. Tav is a placeholder and stands for gustav which was the codename of baldurs gate in ea and is also the name of svens dog. Tav isnt canon either its just a meme