It's been almost three years and people are still talking about the infamous bear sex scene in Baldur's Gate 3, a landmark moment in RPGs that inspired a recent Q&A with disturbing implications about lizards in the upcoming Divinity reboot. That said, I've always wondered what it was like for Dave Jones, who plays Halsin, the druid who transforms into a bear form for the player to then have sex with, to act in that scene. I'd pay good money to be a fly on the wall for that, but I was also fascinated to hear Jones explain his reaction to discovering that part in the game's script.
"When I first found out about the bear scene, I was on a train down to London to one of the sessions," Jones said in an interview with Fall Damage. "We get the scripts a couple of days before and you can look through. I just burst out laughing. It was more the fact that, 'Oh, oh, we're going there. We're going there."
Go there, they did. I still remember the moment of realization I had that it wasn't just my sick mind conjuring up suspicions that, yes, you're about to get freaky with that bear. It's undoubtedly one of the most memorable moments in a generational RPG jam-packed full of incredibly impactful story beats, battles, and character writing. There are scenes in Baldur's Gate 3, particularly those involving Karlach, that made me genuinely weep, but there's an inherent shock value to bear sex that's really tough to compete with.
