One of the things that makes Baldur's Gate 3 so beautiful is the depth of its characters, big or small. Every character, from the main cast to the tiniest of NPCs, feels like they're alive, and have backstories and personalities to match. It's no surprise that the dialogue tree grew as large as it did during development.
An example of this is Nocturne, a tiefling, follower of Shar, and former friend of Shadowheart. While she's only encountered in certain situations during a particular quest, Nocturne's backstory is rich and full of heart. The businessman is known for being kind, compassionate, and sweet, but this was almost too different.
Speaking to TheGamer as part of a wider piece, Nocturne's actor, Abigail Thorn (House of the Dragon, The Acolyte), revealed that the character was pitched as a “sexy monster” with a “special Mephistophelian direction”, which only changed during the recording of her lines.
Nocturne's Baldur's Gate 3 Personality Changed “On the Spot,” Says Abigail Thorn
Speaking to TheGamer, Thorne recalls the first time he pitched to Nocturne. “I was working with Beth Park, who was the voice director on Harmony Fall of Reverie for Baldur's Gate 3,” she says. “A few days into that project, she said, 'Oh, Abigail, I like what you're doing here. I've got this next part in this other video game, and the character is a sexy monster,' and that sent me in a particular Mephistophelian direction.
“After hearing that, I was like, 'Okay, okay, sure, send me the details.' And then I found out it was Baldur's Gate 3, and I had heard about Baldur's Gate 2. So I was like, 'Oh, this is a really big deal.'
It wasn't until Thorne arrived for the recording that he actually learned more about the character. She says that when Nocturne's design wasn't finalized, she was shown a drawing of a tiefling, which was “a very sexy monster.” He recalled the image as “someone with horns and smoke and a tail, and it was very, very sensual.” It was all he had to go.
I had prepared this sexy monster voice that was very smoky, but I changed it on the fly. I picked him up a bit, made him more vulnerable and sweet, and found Nocturne on the spot.
“I went into the booth, and I must have spent the first hour or so giving a sexy monster, and it wasn't really working, because it clashed with the lines,” Thorne tells me. “I told them, 'It's not a sexy monster. It's like your school friend you haven't seen in years,' so I asked if I could try something different, skip the monster thing, and play as the school friend you haven't seen in years. Beth said yes.”
“I had prepared this sexy monster sound that was very smoky, but I changed it on the fly. I picked her up a bit, made her more vulnerable and sweet, and found Nocturne on the spot. We re-recorded all these things from the first part of the session, and she became more girl-next-door.”
The stars of Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate, and Assassin's Creed unite for an all-female and non-binary audiobook, and we talked to them all.
TIVA is a self-funded audiobook project with a wealth of talent, aiming to “stand up against the exploitation of artists by corporations and AI”.
It's clear that the Larian development team isn't afraid to reshoot lines when necessary. With Thorne's transformation as Nocturne, Baldur's Gate 3's performance director recently revealed that the cast was called back to record each line using the pronouns they/them.
- issued
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and gore, partial nudity, sexual content, strong language, violence
- Engine
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Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
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Online co-op, local co-op
- Cross-platform play
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Full cross-platform play.
