Baldur's Gate 3's narrator has a favorite line from the Dark Urge and it's one of the most chilling

Alfira the Bard singing Weeping Dawn
(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Amelia Tyler, the voice behind Baldur's Gate 3's narrator, revealed her favorite line from her favorite subplot in Larian Studios' critically acclaimed role-playing game (RPG). 

Minor spoilers ahead for Baldur's Gate 3.

If you pick the Dark Urge background, you'll get extra voice lines from Tyler's narrator, highlighting your character's inner urge to kill.

"My favorite line [from] the Dark Urge is just a laugh," said Tyler, in an interview with TechRadar Gaming recently.  

"It's just a low chuckle, I think it's after Alfira," she said, referring to a setpiece early on in the Dark Urge playthrough where charming Bard Alfira attempts to join your party. Later that night, your character gives in to their murderous urge and ends the poor Tiefling's life. 

"If you roll the right things [in the game's dice-roll-centric dialogue trees], you just get this amused chuckle at what's happened." 

Tyler went on to discuss the challenges surrounding the scene, especially when it came to making the right kind of sound for the Dark Urge. "Usually in scripts, when you see laughs pop up [...] your heart sinks a little bit because a laugh is so easy to get wrong. It's so easy to make it sound like it's fake," she said. 

"And this wasn't even a normal kind of laugh, this was just enjoying, relaxing into what it was [sic.]. I love that people have noticed it and I got to play like that. You so rarely get a character that you can just sink your teeth into like that, pun intended."

I remember encountering this scene in my own Halloween Dark Urge playthrough and finding the scene as darkly compelling, thanks, in no small part, to Tyler's nuanced performance. Baldur's Gate 3 may be full of playful moments, but, the presence of this darker side of the game also does a great deal to enrich Larian's fantasy tale, making it one of the best RPGs of recent years.

Want more dark games? Our lists of the best horror games and the best survival games have plenty to offer in that department.

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Cat Bussell
Freelance contributor

An editor and freelance journalist, Cat Bussell has been writing about video games for more than four years and, frankly, she’s developed a taste for it. As seen on TechRadar, Technopedia, The Gamer, Wargamer, and SUPERJUMP, Cat’s reviews, features, and guides are lovingly curated for your reading pleasure.

A Cambridge graduate, recovering bartender, and Cloud Strife enjoyer, Cat’s foremost mission is to bring you the best coverage she can, whether that’s through helpful guides, even-handed reviews, or thought-provoking features. She’s interviewed indie darlings, triple-A greats, and legendary voice actors, all to help you get closer to the action. When she’s not writing, Cat can be found sticking her neck into a fresh RPG or running yet another Dungeons & Dragons game.