Baldur's Gate 3 voice actor Scott Joseph's depiction of the Mindflayer Emperor brought to life one of the most disturbing romance scenes in the game. The disturbing descriptor here is really saying something, considering you can make love to a literal bear in Baldur's Gate 3.
As it turns out, Joseph wasn't initially aware that the character he was voicing was romanceable at all, though he was still good and game when he did find out.
Speaking to Dan Allen of Dan Allen gaming, Joseph describes the whirlwind that was entering the recording studio for the first few times. "On the first day it just kind of passed me by, because I was so anxious to get in the volume and get the character - If I can understand the character and make that natural, then I can focus on anything else."
It seems like he's not entirely sure whether the studio told him straight up, since he was so focussed on getting into character. Three or so sessions in, the directors slip in the depravity that the Emperor's storyline might lead to for some players.
"So then I was probably told 'Oh and, by the way, you do know that you can romance this character?' And I was like 'Awesome, yeah! Bit of illithid love going on there. I like that", says Joseph.
"And it was fine, I was ok with it", he laughs, remembering how delicate the directors were being with the whole thing. They kept asking him if he was alright with being put in a sex scene like this, but he makes a point that there's been a push toward including more and more romanceable characters in games, and it goes a long way to making the world believable.
Sure, making love to a Mindflayer is not for everyone, but "If it's not your cup of tea then that's totally cool as well. Just slap them on the back and go and have some mead, or something", he says.
One of the main difficulties for them in the studio was his character's animations, "because I can't float and I don't have tentacles."
"The most awkward thing about it was recording some of the sounds," he says. "You've gotta get over yourself and go 'What would an illithid do in a situation like this?'"
In the end, he notes, they managed to get the whole scene in one take. I'm sure that lightened some of the psychic damage the poor man had to endure from embodying a sexy tentacle monster.
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