Baldur's Gate 3's Narrator Was Almost Really, Really Mean

04.09.2023 - 18:01 / thegamer.com / Swen Vincke / Amelia Tyler

Baldur's Gate 3 does all it can to capture the feeling of playing Dungeons & Dragons, and much of that is thanks to its narration. Whatever choice you make, Amelia Tyler's voice is there to guide you through every nat 20 and critical failure. And while there's a lot of emotion in her voice, she's - for the most part - a fairly neutral onlooker. Aside from a few instances, of course.

However, that could have been very different. Speaking with TheGamer's lead features editor, Jade King, Tyler admits that her earlier take on the narrator was a lot meaner. Describing the old narrator as "enjoying watching you fuck up", Tyler says this interpretation was based on Scar from The Lion King, before being dropped in early access.

Related: Baldur’s Gate 3 Has Way Too Much Stuff

"The early access version was more like an outside view, dungeon master," says Tyler. "The direction I was given was Scar from The Lion King, Like, 'I'm enjoying watching you fuck up. This is gonna be great.'"

As fun as this sounds, it was decided that the cruelty would have been just too much over an entire campaign. Tyler feels this would have been too "exhausting" for players too, taking away from their enjoyment.

“After early access, we sort of re-assessed and were like we want the DM to feel, we want it to feel like it’s not another person challenging the player, it’s their voice," explains Tyler. "I’ve been a voice in their heads their entire life and I know how they think and am totally on board with whatever choices they make."

Yet there are still limits to this tone: "Apart from when they roll ones, in which case I’ll rip the piss out of them mercilessly."

In the final game, Tyler's voice certainly can't be described as emotionless, so she's definitely there on the journey with us. Sometimes, there's even a bit of judgment creeping in there, but usually when we deserve it. Which is most of the time, let's be honest.

Keep an eye out for Jade's full chat with Amelia Tyler tomorrow, as she breaks down her incredibly intensive performance as Baldur's Gate 3's narrator.

However, despite Tyler's occasional judgmental tone, not every disaster in Baldur's Gate 3 is our fault, especially if it's of the romantic variety. Larian boss Swen Vincke admitted that characters were way too horny at launch because of a bug, meaning their romance paths would trigger without the player meaning to pursue them. This was particularly problematic for Gale, who would fall head over heels for players who so much as breathed in his general direction. Poor guy.

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