How Baldur's Gate 3 Accurately Portrays Polyamory

Summary

Baldur's Gate 3 enables polyamory as a relationship option, with characters like Halsin fully embracing it and seeking consent from all partners involved.
Consent is a major theme in the game, with characters' views on polyamory evolving throughout the story and some characters even asking the player to choose between them and another partner in exclusive relationships.
The game accurately portrays polyamory in Act 3, with characters like the Drow Twins and Halsin propositioning the player and seeking consent from their partners. Astarion and Shadowheart are open to the player pursuing a relationship with Halsin, while Karlach gives consent but expresses fear of losing the player.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a huge success, and the game focuses a lot on its core cast of characters. Characters in the game come with many boundaries and are all big on consent. Most games that have romances don’t tend to venture into polyamory, but Baldur’s Gate 3 does, and consent is a very big thing for the characters.

Polyamory in Baldur’s Gate 3 is centered around trust and consent, with some characters being against the idea and others are all for it. Throughout the acts, characters can go from giving their consent to a polyamorous relationship, to wanting to be exclusive with the player. There is one character who completely embraces polyamory throughout the entire game, and that is none other than the Emerald Groves resident Druid, Halsin.

Baldur’s Gate 3 and Accurately Portraying Polyamory

Consent is an important theme within the story and even more so for the companions. As companions develop through the story, so does their view on polyamory and the consent of their fellow companions. Companions like Astarion, Halsin, and Baldur's Gate 3's Shadowheart are accepting of polyamory, with Halsin embracing it the most. However, there will be times when they don’t think it is a good idea. If the player has been in a polyamorous relationship with Astarion and Karlach, Astarion will tell the player to choose between him and Karlach in Act 2, as he doesn’t think it is fair to Karlach to share after she gains the ability to touch people without burning them, and Halsin will not engage in a polyamorous relationship if the other partner doesn’t give consent.

Polyamory Throughout the Story

In Act 1, none of the characters see their romance as exclusive and players can be polyamorous and pursue multiple relationships. Baldur's Gate 3's Karlach says she’s okay with the player pursuing others, but says that she hopes to have something more with them when her engine is fixed. In Act 2, companions will want to become exclusive and will ask the players to choose them or the other person. In Act 3, Baldur's Gate 3 accurately portrays polyamory with characters such as Halsin, and the Drow Twins. The Drow Twins in Sharess' Caress proposition the player and their partner, but don't pursue if their partner says no. Halsin attempts to pursue the player while explicitly seeking consent from their partner. There are two other opportunities for polyamory in Act 3, and that's with Mizora and the Emperor, but neither of them ask the players' partner for consent, and the only companions who are fine with the player being with Mizora is Astarion and Shadowheart. However, no one reacts to the relationship with the Emperor even after witnessing the player with him.

Halsin: The Druid who Embraces Polyamory

Halsin is a druid elf who takes pride in nature and wholeheartedly embraces polyamory, believing that polyamory is part of nature. He is quite possibly the best portrayal of polyamory in the game. He is the only companion that can be romanced in addition to another companion. If players help Halsin with stopping the Shadow Curse in Act 2, then in Act 3 there will be a chance for a romance. However, if players are already romancing a character, then he will explicitly tell them that they need their partners' consent, or he will not pursue the player any further. He also tells the player that he hopes their partner will someday join in on the intimacy. The characters who are open to the player also romancing Halsin are:

Astarion
Shadowheart
Karlach

Astarion is very happy for the player to pursue a romance with Baldur's Gate 3's Halsin and tells them he trusts them, but he is also hesitant about it if his personal quest hasn’t been completed. Shadowheart is very open to the player pursing Halsin, and already guesses that Halsin propositioned the player. She tells them to have fun with Halsin and that she would do the same in their place. With Karlach, Baldur’s Gate 3 shows a negative form of consent. She is against the idea of the player being with Halsin when they are in a relationship with her, but she is also afraid of the idea of losing them and gives her consent for them to pursue Halsin.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%

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Released: August 3, 2023
ESRB: M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s): Larian Studios
Publisher(s): Larian Studios
Engine: Divinity 4.0
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play: Full cross-platform play.