Image: Larian Studios
As it turns out, Gale and the rest of Baldur's Gate 3's companions weren't supposed to be so thirsty for romance.
Ever since Baldur’s Gate 3 launched on PC last month, players have remarked that the game’s companions seem to be surprisingly thirsty for… companionship, to put it mildly. If you found these companions’ romantic advances a little unrealistic, that’s probably because they only happened thanks to a bug.
In an interview with The Gamer, Larian Studios’ game director Swen Vincke explained that many players were experiencing unnaturally speedy party romances due to a bug. They were never meant to come onto the player that strong right off the bat. Vincke said:
So... it was a bug. The approval thresholds were too low when we shipped. That's why they were so horny in the beginning. It wasn't supposed to be that way. We've fixed it since, at least for some of them. We're still fixing a few of them.
This bug has since been fixed for a few companions, just in time for the game’s launch on PlayStation 5 consoles this week. Companions become more affectionate towards the player based on the decisions and dialogue choices made throughout the campaign, which influence their ‘approval thresholds’ for the player. Judging by my personal experience playing the game on the latest patch however, certain companions like Gale and Shadowheart seem just as eager to make out with the player no matter what they do - so PS5 players haven’t missed out on much.
Vincke also said that the companions’ thirst for romance, “wasn't intended... especially Gale. [He] wasn't supposed to be like, instantly there [...] There were a lot of people that enjoyed it. But it was too fast. It was supposed to simulate how real relationships are." If the game is trying to simulate real relationships, it makes sense to tone some of these romances down a tad in the early game. Gaining enough approval through dialogue choices and story decisions seemed to be enough for companions to jump your bones before this was all fixed, but now they’ll probably act a little more restrained.
Given Baldur’s Gate 3’s many branching narrative choices, most players are going to have different experiences with these companions, so it’s hard to tell just how bugged these romances are even after these fixes. I can at least confirm that Astarion doesn’t seem to be bugged based on my playtime thus far. Either that, or he really doesn’t like me.