Players looking for an engrossing new roleplaying experience in 2023 are spoiled for choice. With Baldur's Gate 3, PlayStation players are getting a real doozy, however: the kind of deep, all-encompassing CRPG experience that was once the exclusive providence of PC gamers. Case in point: over the weekend, during its Panel from Hell, Larian released a new teaser and detailed a bunch of exciting new info for the game, but it's The Dark Urge bit right at the end which makes our blood sing with roleplaying potential.
In Baldur's Gate 3, you can play as either a pre-made Origin character (each with their own complicated backstories and relationships to others in the world) or as a custom character, who is referred to more generally. Think of this as the difference between playing Geralt in The Witcher (a specific character who exists in that universe) and Commander Sheperd in Mass Effect (broad enough to be whoever the player likes). Larian used these Origin characters to great effect in Divinity: Original Sin 2, expanding on Dragon Age: Origins' central conceit but extending it across an entire game.
The Dark Urge is a kind of Origin character that combines the best of both worlds, just with a deliciously evil twist; creating a fully customisable character, players will embark on a game-long side quest filled with blood, murder, death and debauchery, all of which is accounted for in-game. The Dark Urge will speak to your character internally, influencing dialogue options and even occasionally taking control. This is something you can attempt to hide from your more heroic companions or embrace by surrounding yourself with a rogue's gallery of monstrous minions.
Like any great villain, you even have your own minion named Sceleritas Fel (voiced by Brian Bowles, the excellent narrator of Divinity: Original Sin 2). A hideous little worm, Fel is a vile servant who will guide you on this journey of dark discovery, urging you on to ever-greater excesses.