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#bg3 critical
passionesolja · 2 months
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So lemme get this straight, they make a game called Baldur’s Gate 3, give us a companion who’s the son of a Council of Four Duke of the city of Baldur’s Gate and then underwrite him and neglect his character so badly that he’s hardly a companion at this point.
Larian, yall re-wrote Wyll, if y’all couldn’t handle story implications of having a character like this, y’all shouldn’t have went this direction. Wyll’s questline being as bad as it is should make the game lose an entire point. Idgaf. Wyll’s questline should be the one that’s most important.
This is like having a game named after NYC, having a companion being the son of a mayor and police chief, and that plot line and character playing almost zero role in the overall story.
This shit really is shameful
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vspin · 7 months
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On Act 3 and the lack of companion reactivity and dialogue.
So, I officially hit 400 hours on BG3 yesterday (no lifing it lmao) and I've been thinking about some things I wish Larian would improve or wish that they had implemented. A big thing that comes to mind is how much companion reactivity and dialogue abruptly stops in Act 3.
Act 1 really shines with companion reactivity. They always have something to say to the MC, to NPCs, or even to each other! I love the interaction after you use your ilithid powers for the first time and it's a 4 way conversation between everyone.
Then we get to Act 3 and there's such huge drop-off. Some big offenses:
Very little reaction to quests and locations. When I killed Raphael I only got comments from Astarion and Gale! Seriously?? We just survived a trip to the Hells! This happens with multiple quests
Blank faces when Durge is killed by Bhaal.
Camp is lifeless. Everyone just stands in front of their bed, There are no interactions.
In my playthrough, the Emporer admitted to my Tav he was manipulating her and didn't really care. It was bummer I couldn't talk to the other tadpole gang about it.
I remember coming across a Druid in the city. He was trying to heal a tree. So I went back and grabbed Halsin because he was complaining no one in the city cared about nature or balance. So I thought surely, he would have an interaction here! Nope, nothing!
As soon as you finish a companion's personal quest that is basically the end of your interactions with them; even if you romance them.
What I'd like to see: (Disclaimer: Just my opinions. I have no expectation of any of this being added to the game)
More camp interaction between companions. Jahiera and Minsc had a great example of this. Let there be a quick cutscene of Minsc and Halsin arm wrestling. Shadowheart, Karlach, and Astarion drinking wine. Anything. DA:I did a great job at this. It seemed like anytime I approached someone for dialogue they were in the middle of an interaction with someone else. Or events like the card game. It brought a lot of life into the party.
More random city encounters. They did a good job with Karlach; she has interactions with the steel watcher and her friend Fitz. Would have been cool to have some of those with Wyll, maybe he meets another noble or a flaming fist and has to deal with their shock of seeing him as a devil. Or with Gale in Sorcerous Sundries (he is a famous wizard after all!). Astarion mentions he needs to keep a low profile in the taverns; what if someone called him out!
More reactions to story events.
Expand on romances a bit more. We don't need it to be a dating sim but if you finish your LI's quest early on get used to just asking for small pecks and that's it. I would like to see more romance-specific dialogue for quest reactions.
And Finally:
We needed all companions at the final battle. Everyone should have been at the main keep before confronting the brain. You should have had your final conversations with them before you all potentially die in battle. DA:O style. A passionate kiss with your LI (not a tiny little peck lmao). This was a huge exclusion.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on the matter. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
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teeldaa · 28 days
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so i was looking up datamined content from early access and wanted to rant and talk about some of the changes Ketheric and Shar His story was changed twice!in both ea version he was a moon elf chosen of shar(he had nothing to do with Myrkul),in the first version Halsin accidentally killed Isobel and that pushed ketheric to release the shadow curse, nightsong was an avatar of shar
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this is the original nightsong,a necromancer called "sevryn"(beta version of balthazar?!) had quest for the player to kill her with a dagger that absorbed her power,but if you saved her she could become a camp follower,here's some of her lines
"Shar is the Nightsinger, and I am her Nightsong." "I am her instrument, transforming the faithful into Shadows." "I drink their sorrow, their loss, their grief,then I vomit it back into the world." "I was captured, by Ketheric Thorm - Shar's chosen.He turned me into this creature." "I want to sing my own song, not Shar's, not Ketheric's!"
you can listen to her datamined voice lines here and here's a video about that version in the second version Ketheric turned away from Selûne when Isobel was still alive in that version it was Balthazar who killed isobel then framed Aylin as her murderer there was this isobel's line "I was dead, Aylin. For so long. It was Balthazar - he trapped my soul, he-" and Aylin's line "It is why I couldn't leave your body, even when they came. Balthazar and that Sharran witch told your father that I was to blame." and one Ketheric's line @ Aylin"You killed my daughter, then you stand before me and lie? I'll see you suffer tenfold what my Isobel did."(source) i think being recruitable kinda make sense for this version of Ketheric because he was being manipulated by Balthazar and Shar btw here's ketheric and isobel's datamined models(source)
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so act 2 was all about the conflict between Selune and Shar and they just slapped myrkul in there last minute?! so Ketheric being a sharran and a chosen of absolute means shar was somehow supposed to involved with the absolute plot(that why shadowheart and her fellow sharran went and stole the artifact)
Daisy,The Urges,Orpheus and The Emperor Daisy was the early access version of dream visitor and every companion used to have their own unique daisy(everyone had the same dream except Astarion)"Down by The River"and"The Power"used to be about daisy there were "urges" in early access that wanted you to kill Daisy Orpheus was in the artefact but he wasn't chained up,he was supposed to be the one who helped you and shielded you from the absolute instead of the emperor.He probably had a way bigger role there is a misconception that original tav was meant to be a bhaalspawn which is straight up false,the dreams and the urges from early access only accrued if you used your illithid power (using them originally meant to have severe consequences) i know some people say daisy was supposed to be a manifestation of the tadpole that was trying to turn you and your party into mindflayers but i don't think it was ever confirmed what daisy or those urges were,i could be wrong but i remember it was datamined that both the Absolute and Orpheus used the Daisy persona...idk i know some people are gonna be like"dream guardian is better,Daisy was creepy/obviously evil"but Daisy only appeared if you used your illithid power,plus you could just reject them...or even kill them
as for the emperor,at first i thought he was just a replacement for Daisy and Orpheus but apparently no!i was watching Harbs Narbs talking about bg3's magic the gathering cards,when he saw the elder brain's card he said"could this be the emperor?"
Cazador and The Butcher …they basically cut everything...(source of datamined lines) so there was this character called "the Butcher"(who was one of the chosen/leader of absolute)who asked you to find his apprentice "Ohler" in Baldur's Gate's graveyard and bring him back a flask(?!),he was the leader of a skeleton faction(their faction was called TadpoledSkeleton)their concept art is still in bg3 artbook
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i'm guessing this butcher guy was supposed to be the original Armored male elf chosen of myrkul?!ohler was caught by an ancient and powerful vampire called"the alluring"
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you could side with the butcher and bring him back his flask,then he proposed to turn you into an undead,but if he allowed him to performe the ritual to turn you undead he also would try to make you his puppet. if you managed to break free of his control and you had to fight him. To kill him permanently you had to destroy his phylactery,otherwise he would resurrects every time. or you could side with Cazador,he wanted the butcher guy dead
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btw i was looking at bg3 art book pdf i found these on cazador's page
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is that what he originally was supposed to look like?!the scythe...ugh it looks so cool the other interesting thing is apparently other spawns were somehow okay/happy with their situation
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the other thing i wanted to mention is i think Cazador was originally supposed to be a half elf,the language Cazador uses is Kozakuran,The Kozakurans were a human ethnicity The Creche vs The Cult of the Absolute (source) there was supposed to be a fight between the absolute cultist(led by Orin and the butcher)vs the creche(and some sort of team up between lathander priests and githyanki)
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you could side with the absolute,they wanted to stop Kith'rak Voss from returning to Vlaakith,here's some of the butcher's lines
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and orin's
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and this orin badass moment,i'm still salty they cut this for the full release...
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or you could side with Voss and helped him escape(i suggest you watch the source video,there's so much more there)
some other stuff there was some datamined stuff bout the city here and here i don't get it...why did they change so many good stuff,Ethel's nephew and hag coven,Raphael's original deals,Zevlor plot twist and...are all gone at first i thought they"cut"those content due to time restriction or resource constraints but that's clearly not the case,There is a clear change in direction,i think what they were originally going for was"choosing the lesser of two evils"then they decided to go with more generic route of good vs evil! bg3 was released in August 2023,larian was looking for beta testers for Acts 2 & 3 in july 2022 idk maybe if they didn't rewrite the companions to be less mean/evil and didn't add halsin and dark urge they could have finish the game?!
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hungerofhadarr · 2 months
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Sometimes I cannot tell if you guys want villains who do not want to be redeemed or not bc we get gortash and everyone trips over themselves to make this version of him that is absolved from his actions and he’ s changed … Anyways another day another time Wyll gets put to the back burner with crumbs of content yet everyone huddles around like “ OMG THANK YOU LARIAN … oh yeah sorry about Wyll : ((( “
You guys get you are a part of the problem right . You are letting Larian know they can get away with being racist as long as they feed fandom and whatever . Instead of actual quality of life updates and patching in content that would Actually help the game run better and feel finished , they just bloat the game and let companions go untouched with minimal content while playing into whatever the loudest voices in fandom demand the most .
The studio account should not be interacting with fandom so often . This blur between creators and fans is bad ! This leads to fans blindly defending and protecting a Game Studio that they have no connection to because haha larian mad a funny reply . And this also causes a feeling of ownership that should not be there ! You do not own a piece of bg3 and you should not be dictating it ! This is different from criticism btw . Just so we are Clear . Larian deserves and needs criticism .
It is super telling that they voices they are choosing to listen to are not voices that actually care about the game at its story . If they were , we would not have Zero Story for the Son of the Duke of Baldur’ s Gate and yet we have so much for a character that isn’ t actually tied into any major story beat ! We have no more for the character directly tied to Gortash with a prototype of the Steel Watch in her chest , but we can take a side character a few people wanted to bang and speed to have him included ad a full companion ! Instead of Dark Urge getting more content with Orin , Savrok and anyone else that had a tie to Bhaal , they get their relationship with a guy unrelated to all that be made to be read more and more explicitly romantic when that is just ruining the character !
Wyll should have a proper sex scene . He should have a romanced greeting that changes after the proposal . He should have more personal story content . He should have scenes of him in Baldur’ s Gate . The Emperor reveal as Balduran should not have been the main focus of HIS FINAL STORY QUEST . He should have hug and kiss options in the epilogue . People should comment on the engagement ! He should have all of this !! AND MORE FRANKLY .
But because everyone is so quick to forgive Larian , they’ ll never feel pressured to add any of this . They’ ll never feel like they’ ll loose players if they don’ t . Because you guys don’ t actually care . No , I am not saying thank you to larian for not giving me anything I have been asking for and sending feedback on for months . I am not thanking larian for choosing to bend over backwards to random big name fandom people who are racist and just want to fuck the pale guys again and again .
Larian Studio is not your fucking friend, stop acting like they are .
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bhaalbaaby · 8 months
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i feel so bad for op because it is sort of off-putting when you start playing and then you're immediately called slurs and stuff because of your race, especially as a black person. people are harassing her because she pointed it out and i hate it. like it didn't have to be in the game, but it's there and it's valid to criticize it IMO ;;; someone added a community note saying it's not tied to real racism which i think is very funny since media cannot be consumed in a vacuum even high fantasy games. esp when some of the originators of the high fantasy were racists themselves but that's another story for another day lol i remember when dnd came out with the monkey slave race so... :")
didn't include op's username in this because they went private because people went crazy and i don't like that when it's a valid critique. it's always when poc say something and then it's immediately don't like don't play...
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koieio · 6 months
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How this fandom babyfiy Astarion, honestly is funny at this point.
I guarantee you had Wyll said something along the lines of, "I'd attend your wedding, but only if I got to sit next to Cazador." Or "Thank Gortash, we got to meet." People would be foaming at the mouth.
But since these comments come from Astarion, it's just him being, "Sassy" or "Funny". It's never held against Astarion the same way some fans hold Wyll's "rat diet" quip against Wyll's character.
"When I heard Wyll say that I immediately benched him!"
"I wanted to launch him off a cliff at that moment!"
"I honestly cringed at this moment."
Meanwhile Astarion's racism and prejudice goes unchecked by the fandom, or garners a much less severe reaction. Basically Astarion can be as crass and mean to the other companions as he wants in his banters, but the other companions are expected to tip toe around him in their banter. It's very telling. Very, very telling.
This isn't even getting into how Astarion is babified in other ways. Like how he's viewed as a child because he "died" at the tender age of forty. This grown ass man had an entire career as a judge which he spent using to target and be prejudice agians the Gurr.
Or we could discuss the adultification I see when people talk about Wyll's backstory when he was just 17. How he's expected to know better, and outwit the eons old demoness. How his intelligence is called into questioned, because he doesn't know demon politics or didn't waste time negotiating/fact checking Mizora for a better contract while the fate of his home rest in the balance.
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galedekarios · 4 months
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ngl but describing the character who is just now coming out of depression & a self-imposed isolation because he was afraid to put people in danger and is now, despite the terrible circumstances, just happy to reconnect meaningfully with other people again and would quite literally die for them if it meant they got a chance to live their lives because he feels he made the worst mistake out of all them & thinks he's been careless in the past as the "guy who annoys everyone" and his death as the "right" ending, as "giving back" "to the world" for giving him a fucking amulet of dancing lights and having to make up for being perceived by you as "annoying" when he's autistic-coded for a lot of people, is... Disheartening to say the least.
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sweetmage · 2 months
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Larian Does NOT Handle Abuse Well
Within the span of two days, Larian has promoted the removal of Gale's (a victim of grooming, emotional abuse, and being used by someone with an extreme power dynamic over him, might I remind you) consent twice. In patch 6 they made it easier to manipulate and pressure him into group sex while doing nothing to change all the lines expressing discomfort (other than removing his ability to bring it up after). They also posted a gif to their Twitter without warning of him bring non-consensually choked and kissed while looking terrified.
Imagine if they posted spawn Astarion looking scared while he was hurt and forced into submission while being kissed by someone with extreme power over him.
Not to mention Larian's lead writer implied that, because Gale is annoying (read: autistic coded) that him blowing up at the whims of his abuser is a good and fitting ending for him.
Now imagine it Larian was like "Actually Astarion returning to Cazador and submitting to him is a fitting ending because he was kinda mean and he was causing trouble so it's the best for everyone :)"
Additionally, they have continued to sexualize the clearly abusive and one sided relationship between Wyll and Mizora (a black man and the white woman who manipulated him as a child and now keeps him on a leash and abuses him), evident most recently in the Christmas animation.
Imagine if Larian was repeatedly making jokes and insinuations about Astarion and Cazador fucking or Astarion secretly being attracted to him.
DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEMS NOW???
Y'all run around praising this game for how it handled abuse but really this game and this company handles abuse terribly and their marketing is triggering and insensitive to abuse victims and basically no one wants to bother talking about it! Frustrating...
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adarlingmess · 8 months
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There's a lack of morally grey/evil male romantic options for BG3.
Let me preface this by saying that the direction Larian Studios took for the romances are groundbreaking. I can definitely feel the effect they wanted us to feel with the romances- it feels like an actual relationship instead of a game where the end goal is just sex. The players are given an opportunity to influence their love interests and affect their storylines for better or for worse, just like how one would in a real relationship. Kudos!
But… I need to say it. As much as I love Baldur's Gate and BG3, the "bad girl" romance options are numerous (Viconia, Hexxat & arguably Safana in the predecessor games; Shadowheart, Lae'Zel, & Minthara + Mizora as a fling in 3) compared to the male (Dorn in 2, Astarion in 3). There's something off about it that I can't put my finger on. Plus, player have more control on whether to "fix" the bad girls or "make her worse". Meanwhile, Astarion is the only "bad boy" you can do that with. You can't even steer Dorn to a lighter path- he will straight up leave you if you are too good.
In Baldur's Gate 3, every male romance option except Astarion starts off as "good boy" romances. Gale and Wyll did questionable things but their alignment ultimately leans towards good. Halsin is a walking green flag. What if we want to roleplay a character who is into the "bad boys"? This is why we were clamoring for a Raphael and Abdirak romance since Early Access. I see folks wanting Nere and Gortash too. Where are our bastards? Please, we want to play with fire 👀
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tadfools · 4 months
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me and the besties finding this guy's address so we can go uninstall bg3 from his computer:
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passionesolja · 2 months
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Okay so I need Non-Early Access Baldur’s Gate 3 fans to understand how much they pacified Wyll in the full release. Wyll in Early Access was assertive as hell. None of the meek and mild pushover shit we got in the full game. Like if you didn’t get your ass to that Goblin Camp, bring him along, and act accordingly in that Camp, he would leave. In Early Access, Spike the Torture Goblin took his eye out so if you weren’t bout that action, he would get fed up and just drop all y’all. He didn’t give a fuck he wanted them goblins dead. Like tbh good for him. I haven’t played Early Access BG3 in a minute but I remember Wyll more than I remember anybody else’s Early Access Characterization. That’s how memorable he was.
So I when I played the full game I was a lil shook because Wyll went from this driven guy who was like “tick tock when are you going to goblin camp, you better bring me to Blighted Village or I’ll leave” to somebody who hardly has presence in a room. Early Access Wyll never came across as rude or mean, he just didn’t play about them goblins. He had a lot more of the “My dads a no nonsense duke” in him. I wish Larian had never changed it. When Early Access Wyll is like “my dad is the Duke of Baldur’s Gate and the leader of the Flaming Fist” you’re like “oohhh I see why you have such a driven and motivated personality”.
On one hand, it was nice to not have Wyll breathing down your neck about the Goblins but in the longterm you’re like “but at what cost?”
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vspin · 7 months
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Cazador could have been a much more interesting villain.
It's very obvious a lot of Act 3 content was cut just based on lose threads you find throughout the city that kinda lead to nothing.
I think Cazador was one of the biggest disappointments of Act 3. Don't get me wrong, killing him and completing Astarion's arc was an incredibly satisfying and emotional experience. But I think it could have been even better.
If you read the books and notes around his estate, it's obvious they were setting up Cazador as this big-time political player in Baldur's Gate. Astarion even alludes to this earlier in the game (this could have just been Astarion speaking out of fear). Cazador's been in Baldur's Gate a long time and hasn't had the cavalry coming down on him for being a vampire so the man is obviously cunning and has some type of influence.
Some things I would have liked to see concerning Cazador:
Cazador's letter to the other vampire in his sanctum says he was planning a political takeover of the city after his ascension. This wouldn't be possible with Gortash in power.
I think that Cazador should have been a potential ally against Gortsah. Hear me out, yes most likely we as the player could choose to refuse him or betray him later on, but I think it would have been interesting if Cazador approached the player looking to help take out Gortash.
More elaboration on Astarion's background as a Magistrate. More information on the other spawn. Maybe you learn that all of them were people of some type of power and influence and Cazador specifically chose them based on this.
There should have been a proper coronation for Gortash. Not this nonsense above a prison. Have the characters dress up. Meet and greet with the powers of Baldur's Gate. This is where we see Cazador for the first time. (Also, this could have been a cool opportunity to influence and build Wyll as the next potential Grand Duke but that's a whole other topic!)
Give an option to betray Astarion to Cazador in reward for some type of power (I know :( but come on, we can slaughter innocent children, you can't tell me an evil power-hungry character wouldn't rather hedge their bets on a Vampire Lord vs. a spawn)
Make the ascension tied to a specific date/environment event to justify Cazador not immediately taking Asatrion.
Idk this isn't very fleshed out. Just my thoughts on what I think could have made Act 3 stronger . I'm also a sucker for OP Vampire Lords (Castlevania, Strahd) so I really wanted to see that reflected in Cazador instead of this guy who reminded me of an Oblivion NPC.
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sauronpilled · 2 months
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we really need to be a lot more critical to larian and put pressure on them. wyll have been ignored 6 patches deep into the update, and he still lack the variety unlike the other core companions. no new greetings if you romance him, lack of independent choices, etc. don't use "but he lack content :(((" as an excuse to dismiss the disparity both in game and fandom. this will just enable the bias further.
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northlandcleric · 5 months
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I’m going to finally go on a long ass rant that’s been building up for a while now:
I really fucking love how yall go and say “angry about Astarion kisses for whatever reason,” like yall don’t know.
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And to add, these pics are literal datamined dialogue that has been floating around for a while.
And then idk if you’re being deliberately obtuse, but wtf kind of response is this? Yall are just feeding that delusions at this point.
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Because yes! We do think Larian is only going to give something to one companion and not the others because that’s all they’ve been doing since release!!
For god’s sake, the company love child and thirst trap of the game has not only gotten extra content(that was confirmed by writer) to fit in perfectly with the Dark Urge origin, but they keep adding more shit for him! He already has a grand total of 9 scenes where 6 of them can be romance. The SENIOR NARRATIVE DESIGNER said they prioritized Astarion over the others.
Meanwhile, we have, on release:
Gale, who is so damned buggy that everybody knows him as the desperate, horny, still caught up on his ex, magical item consumer: 6 scenes with 3 that can be romance.
Wyll, whose romance and story is so fucking short it might as well not exist: 5 scenes with 2 that can be romance.
Karlach, whose story is not even damn finished properly: 4 scenes with 3 that can be romance.
Minthara romance has been bugged since the beginning.
All of these other companions that do in fact exist keep getting neglected, but yall have the audacity to freak out when his kisses are bugged? Heaven forbid.
And aside from the companion neglect, Act 3 is still bugged out. Content was cut in full release to the point there are too many loose ends and quests that go nowhere. And no epilogue.
I’m just tired at this point. Love the game, love most of the characters and even more of the side characters. And I really wish this was talked about further than Tumblr, but any other platform will get you mass attacked.
Anyway, doubt that this will get far, but hope I can at least help start some conversations.
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bhaalbaaby · 5 months
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I’m abt to say it: I don’t like that people are like wyll is boring but then they use a mod to change his romance scenes for someone else like 🤨
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bg3-bitching · 4 months
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Hot Take that's gonna get me sent to the gallows:
Of the male companions, Gale is actually the best example of a "messy, imperfect victim".
Astarion is a better example of "thinking they're above perpetuating the cycle of abuse".
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