OK, confession time. I disliked Shadowheart at first, like really disliked her. So I dyed her clothes into light colors cause it seems like she’d hate that, being all into Shar and darkness. She has since grown on me, but I still really like these colors on her, even if she might not…
I just started my replay, it’s kind of crazy how unlikable so many of the characters I grew to love are in the beginning. Both Lazeal and Shadowheart are course like sandpaper early on. Karlach is the exception to the rule as she was always amazing
This is why BG3 is brilliant. The original Baldurs Gate games were exactly the same - most of the potential party members were so ambiguous and unlikable at first. It makes you come to love them so much more as they grow with you.
Baldur’s Gate is the greatest RPG franchise in history.
I think they changed it so most of them are less horny now than they were at launch. Maybe this led to them being more dislikable.
It’s not about horny. Laezel is racist and arrogant, borderline fascist. Shadowheart is a passive aggressive bitch princess, zealot of Shar, no less. Wyll is a hypocrite. Gayle is a sweat talker. Astarion is an asshole. Karlach, you have a chance at killing her, but she’s the nicest, goodest one you can find, the polar opposite of Shadowheart.
Gale was the fuckbuddy of the goddess of magic and it wasn’t enough for him.
I have zero sympathy for him in his whole storyline.
I found Astarion’s “Let’s go hurt someone” line so off-putting that I actively avoided him. My wife took a near instantaneous hatred of Shart (like, to a comical degree - I even explained the cult thing and she didn’t even care).
Oddly enough, we’re both like “Ok Lae’zel’s an asshole, but she seems pretty straightforward and not needlessly cruel.”
You could add, Gith supremacist, and arguably on the far side of ‘borderline.’ I have wondered about playing each of the origin characters separately so I can keep their stories disentangled and Lae would feel more likeable if you were actually playing as her.
Very true. But like all characters, she can change. I realized this with Laezel in my first playthrough. She does change. So does Shadowheart. Karlach is interesting on this matter because I think she can be corrupted into becoming more evil if you work for it, but I didn’t try yet. Talking with friends I realized this with Gayle: he can easily turn good or evil depending on how you treat and talk with him.
Karlach is beautiful, the perfect friend.