{"id":82760,"date":"2026-09-06T22:05:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T14:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=82760"},"modified":"2026-09-06T22:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T14:05:59","slug":"bg3s-best-evil-playthrough-replacement-is-waiting-to-be-rediscovered-on-steam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=82760","title":{"rendered":"BG3’s Best Evil Playthrough Replacement Is Waiting to Be Rediscovered on Steam"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/em> will absolutely let you be a monster, if you\u2019re so inclined. Slaughter a village, betray every companion, ascend as a vampire tyrant: Do those things, and the game will serve up plenty of deliciously unhinged dialogue options to match. But if you\u2019re a dedicated fan of morally gray (or downright depraved) choices in RPGs, you might notice that even expansive games like Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/em> guide you toward merciful options \u2014 or punish you by cutting entire questlines if you opt for the evil path. And that\u2019s perhaps the price you have to pay if you\u2019re truly committed to your villain era. Unless, of course, you\u2019re playing Tyranny<\/em>, a game that doesn\u2019t bother with any good-versus-evil narratives or nudge you to be nicer to your NPCs. Because in this case, evil has already won. And you get to decide what happens next.<\/p>\n

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Tyranny<\/em>, a 2016 dark fantasy CRPG from Obsidian Entertainment, casts you as a Fatebinder \u2014 a judge and law enforcer for Kyros, a god-emperor whose armies have conquered most of the known world. Instead of siding with the last remaining band of heroes, you are there to finish the job as Kyros\u2019s stooge. The game starts by making you set the scene: You click through an interactive war-map storybook, blithely selecting the factions you\u2019re going to crush and the alliances you\u2019ll nurture, then betray. As in later Obsidian titles like The Outer Worlds<\/em> and Pentiment<\/em>, <\/em>the game builds a history around your answers. Once you\u2019ve made it abundantly clear that every character in this game will be horrified by your choices, it\u2019s time to begin.<\/p>\n

Time, too, to avoid flinching as you step into your role as the petty tyrant you\u2019ve always dreamt of being. You can wipe out life in entire inconvenient sections of your map, you can decide to burn down libraries containing knowledge you don\u2019t want anyone else knowing, you can plunge territories into famine and leave regions in ruin; with brutal strategy, or on a careless whim. Early on, you can order a water supply poisoned to break a rebellious town\u2019s will. Townsfolk will bring this up, directly to your face, citing your preferred poisoning method, for the rest of your run \u2014 as they should! As they would, if you\u2019d done such a thing in real life! You don\u2019t need to apologize (you\u2019re a tyrant, of course you won\u2019t) but they won\u2019t stop bringing it up, or discussing your other misdeeds. Will you be able to tune them out and ignore any guilt you may be experiencing? Or will you find other ways to make those characters stop talking?<\/p>\n

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\n \"Tyranny\n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The game doesn\u2019t try to get you to be merciful, but it also doesn\u2019t assist in your malevolence. Betraying an ally you\u2019ve spent hours building trust with doesn\u2019t come with a helpful \u201cthis character disapproves\u201d warning light. It just happens, the game informs you of the mess you\u2019ve made, and you\u2019re left with no path forward but to remove your headphones, take your hand off the mouse, and stare at the wall for several minutes, thinking about the enormity of what you\u2019ve just done.<\/p>\n

The way Tyranny<\/em> tracks your relationships adds to the game\u2019s vicious, calculating vibe. Instead of giving you a good-evil morality slider, Tyranny<\/em> will track the Favor and Wrath each faction feels for you \u2014 and the Loyalty and Fear you inspire in your companions. These aren\u2019t simple binary switches or universal sentiments, either. You can simultaneously frighten and inspire unwavering loyalty in the same companion; you can be loved by one faction and make another want your head on a pike. Lantry, a scholar-turned informant, might despise you; Sirin, a teenager whose absurdly intense powers have left her unstable and friendless, could follow you to the ends of the earth. Your companions will assist you through the game\u2019s real-time-with-pause combat and courtroom-style confrontations. You can then exploit those feelings to your ends, as you see fit.<\/p>\n

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By the end of the game, you\u2019ll need to look at the territories you\u2019ve conquered and decide whether to keep serving Kyros or to turn your armies against the empire that made you. Every move in this game is an ugly power grab, the finale will likely feel odd and unsatisfying \u2014 in part because the game was<\/em> shortened due to budget issues at Obsidian \u2014 and since you might not like what you\u2019ve learned about yourself while playing. But you won\u2019t forget the experience anytime soon, either.<\/p>\n

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\"tyranny-gameplay-screenshot\"\n <\/picture>Image: Obsidian Entertainment<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Playing this game is an interesting way to check in on your own conscience: Many of us think<\/em> we\u2019re some version of morally complicated, but are we this<\/em> bad? These and other philosophical questions Tyranny<\/em> raises are, perhaps, one reason why many people consider Tyranny<\/em> a spiritual sibling of Planescape Torment<\/em>, a similar game about consequences and power. If playing as the Durge or letting Astarion ascend in Baldur\u2019s Gate 3<\/em> gave you a taste for evil playthroughs, perhaps it\u2019s time to try a game built with that premise from the ground up. Tyranny<\/em> has been waiting for you since 2016. Your next sinister choice awaits.<\/p>\n

Tyranny is available to play on Windows PC via Steam.<\/em><\/p>\n