MeinMMO editor Leya thinks too much about the romance with the tentacle man in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Although I have since turned my attention to other games, Baldur’s Gate 3 is still running in the background. After over 300 hours, I am still discovering new things and trying out various things.
A major draw is the freedom of choice in the game and the consequences that one must bear. This also applies to the romances one can have with the NPCs and companions. For example, if I decide to be constantly evil, certain characters quickly want nothing to do with me.
There is one thing here that does not satisfy me.
The allure lies in the uncertainty
Throughout the story, you encounter a Mindflayer, who can become your ally or your enemy. If you explore its story more closely, you will quickly find that there is more to this Mindflayer than meets the eye.
I have a friendly relationship with most of my companions. They are all really well and emotionally written, so you want to hug all of them when they share sad or even beautiful moments with you.
And even though the heroes’ journeys of the individual characters are well developed, their stories feel somewhat familiar.
The aforementioned Mindflayer stands out for me.
He is one of the most exciting and complex characters in all of Baldur’s Gate. Just in my first playthrough, I had a lot of fun discovering his character.
Without going into too much detail: The Mindflayer is clearly manipulative and tries to pull you over to its side for its own purposes. It seems that any means are fair to it. But it is clever enough not to pressure you, so you do not turn away from it.
There are attempts at intimacy from the Mindflayer that can ultimately lead to sex – if one wishes so.
The tentacle romance seems not fully thought out
Of course, I did not have to think long to immediately let my guard down and give in to the tentacles. I did this with full awareness that sex is also part of the Mindflayer’s manipulation tactics.
I was very curious about when this decision would trigger a conflict. After all, all my companions are convinced that this Mindflayer wants to play an evil game with us. Moreover, Mindflayers are clearly the villains of the story!
Where will this dalliance lead?
To nothing.
In the end, my excursion leads nowhere. There is an achievement called “Mind Blown” when you sleep with the Mindflayer. My companions know that I slept with the Mindflayer, whom they all distrust. Not a single comment from them regarding my action.
Update 23.02, 12:00 PM: Our user MxInuxchan has clarified in the comments that the Mindflayer erases my companions’ memories and they will not remember who I slept with afterwards. This is correct, but also an easy way out of the conflict. Still, for me:
For the story or the relationship between the Mindflayer and me, it makes no difference.
In the end, it feels like this scene was only included as a joke. However, the great strength of Baldur’s Gate 3 is that decisions and actions have consequences.
I didn’t necessarily have to fly into the sunset with the Mindflayer in a Nautiloid – even though that would have been pretty cool.
It would have been exciting if some companions had turned away from me due to a more intense relationship with a Mindflayer.
As the character is written, I see no great love. But I would have liked to see the game revolve around self-interest and integrating, between my character and him, developed a bit further – simply because it is something different.
Who knows, maybe in the end we would have even ruled Baldur’s Gate together, assuming we had each other fully under control and were misusing each other for our own purposes.
If you want to feel the embrace of the tentacles yourself, I recommend our romance guide to the Mindflayer.
