someone implied (indirectly) sol's a good tav and i blacked out

rambling about the BG3 ending (spoilers ahead), just getting some thoughts out

I finished BG3 yesterday and overall i loved the game but my god that ending was rushed and didn't really give any closure. I didn't free orpheus despite wanting to because my tav Crowe thought that staying with the emperor would be the most consistent choice to guarantee getting rid of the Netherbrain -- and that after Crowe would help Lae'zael and Voss with getting rid of Vlaakith cause if they're all mindflayers or dominated by the Netherbrain they wouldn't be able to do anything (i looked up what the Orpheus ending looked like after though and it's kind of a shame it doesn't seem to have much of an impact the Emperor is just like bye. Which i guess is in line with his character but it didn't have any oomf to it)

The epilogue helped a little bit with closure but this didn't exist until a month ago and definitely didn't make it a super satisfying ending it felt like a bandaid. W/o the epilogue the ending was

-Lae'zael says a couple quick lines to you and fucks off which is my bad for not taking the Orpheus ending, but it feels out of character that you can't offer to help or or at least talk to her so she can understand where you were coming from, that it felt like the bond you guys built up over the adventure meant nothing. She trusts the group to use her Silver sword?? Why won't she stay for a few words I feel like this isn't in character for her idk

-I was unable to finish Shadowheart's quest because the Shar Temple fight in Act 3 was insanely buggy for me and was crashing constantly. Shadowheart was not mentioned at all at the docks which is likely because I couldn't finish the quest but that's still weird they didn't account for people not doing companion quests. Like not even just one line about what Shart is going to do next. Ok.

-Halsin is not mentioned AT ALL and Crowe was partnered with him in addition to Astarion. In the epilogue you learn he's trying to help rebuild the Shadowlands area -- if Tav gets a scene at the end with Astarion why can't he have a quick scene with Halsin discussing he wants to go back to the Shadowlands

-You talk with Gale about what to do with the crown but you don't learn the consequences of that at all he just goes okay and walks away from the doc

-Astarion just runs away. He was Crowe's partner so they got a follow up scene but if this wasn't the case I imagine there isn't anything else. Even with a follow up scene wish there was more about what Astarion wanted to do with his life now that it's his.

-Wyll and Karlach insta leave to Avernus. I'm devastated by Karlach's ending and really wish there was a "better" ending for her in line with other companions BUT!!! This was oddly one of the endings I felt like had some closure/was in line with the story. Karlach got to have her moment at the docks that was heart wrenching and sad and didn't ignore the journey she went on and her friendship with Crowe

-Wyll deserved more than two lines before him and Karlach ran off to Avernus, like with the Ansurr quest/following up with him after we knew he was going to end up with Avernus, how he felt about that and why he was going to become the Blade of Avernus is great BUT LET HIM SAY GOODBYE TO HIS FRIENDS AND HIS CITY!!! >:(

I love that Wyll and Karlach get to be a devil slaying team in Avernus and just how much they've changed from the beginning of the game, you meet because Wyll is trying to find Karlach. And im here for a happy ending for Karlach but the epilogue feels like such whiplash LOL like she has this heart wrenching scene at the docks then the writers went "um oopsie. Actually her and Wyll found a way to fix her engine. Yay!" writers you need to COMMIT

The epilogue did help a little bit. It's nice to know what the companions are up to but it didn't fix the ending at all lol. BG3's characters are the strongest points in a game, it's such a whiplash to see the ending just tacked on. I still don't know what Astarion wants to do post game. Crowe wanted to help him find a way to walk in the sun and but what does Astarion want to do with his life now that he doesn't have Cazador or a tadpole in his head!!!!!

To me the game is obviously not finished and that's a shame because it's still such a good game but it could be BETTER. Act 3 lacks a lot of polish that Act 1 pulls you in with. Characters at camp don't have much to say in Act 3, you barely talk to them about anything, Halsin basically doesn't exist. The constant crashing after a certain point in Act 2 is just unacceptable, at one point i had to stop playing for a couple months because I literally couldn't progress through the crashing, and these technical issues dampened my enjoyment of the game a lot.

I also wish they made Tav's character choices matter more, like even stuff popping up in your dialogue more, or actually getting to meet your patron -- the "we're just leaving it up to your imagination" doesn't really work when all the Origins characters in your party have a huge backstory that matters throughout the game and Tav just doesn't. There wasn't a lot of moments where I was like YES Crowe feels so cool right now!! I know Durge apparently addresses some of this but that doesn't fix that Tav just feels like they're There. They def could've done more. Why doesn't Crowe ever get to talk to his patron as a Warlock. Why can't the game explore what kind of relationship they have. Crowe is a soldier from Baldur's Gate. Why can't he have connections to the Flaming Fists? Why can't he see his family? Why can't Crowe have religious connections and have that affect the story without being a cleric? He worships Illmater and returning home to the murder at the temple devastated him. Why can't there be a few dialogue options with him being familiar with someone at the temple. Like there's ways to improve on making Tav feel like they matter more even with just smaller stuff.

That's it for now but I might return with more thought dumping later