I’m currently on my 3rd playthrough, and I’m playing as a dark urge character who gives into his urges. For spoiler prevention I’ll describe what I just finished as vaguely as possible. I just completed the durge objective that gives you a powerful reward in act 2.
This is depressing. All of the good that I accomplished in my first two playthroughs is absent. My camp is nearly empty. Lae zel’s lifeless body has been laying in my camp for 2 full acts. Karlach, Wyll, Zevlor, Damon, Jaheira, and many others are dead, either by my hand or because of my actions.
I didn’t fully appreciate just how lonely and depressing, self-serving life would be. I have more gold and loot than either of my other playthroughs, and I’m more powerful, but to what end? My own lonely existence? I don’t think that I will continue past this point. I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, which was experience the game as an evil character. I don’t think I need another 50 hours of this to pound the point home.
Hats off to Larian for making such an emotional and realistic game, full of vibrant and exciting characters. I don’t enjoy the world where I have betrayed them all.
I will say it’s a bit more complicated than that…
If you can stomach/embrace the evil it opens up some fun/interesting Act 3 stuff. The Durge arc and the “full-send evil” endings for Astarion and Shadynasty specifically were neat to see given how not-evil they can turn out in a “good” playthrough.
What is the evil ending for Astarion? Is it when you let him become a vampire lord? Because I already did that both times. He seemed to really want it, and I didn’t think it would be smart to release 7000 starving vampire spawn into the streets of Baldur’s Gate.
Yeah that’s what I’d say is the “evil” ending, though your point is correct…I liked that his endings are morally ambiguous either way you choose (unlike Shadowheart, whose endings are pretty clearly “good”/“evil”).
I’ve still been playing this evil playthrough, but very sparsely. Shadowheart is already very different from my previous playthroughs, so I guess I will get to see her evil ending if I ever get there.