During the Haarlep scene, you're sitting there watching Haarlep initiate a sexual encounter with your Tav/Durge and the companions are basically:
🧍 🧍 🧍
“...”
And then:
[Astarion disapproves]
[Gale disapproves]
[Wyll disapproves]
Like??? That's it???
Sure, they have approval reactions to things like removing your clothes, surrendering your body, and fighting Haarlep, but there isn't really a proper response or some kind of visible reaction during the actual scene.
I be romancing Gale and he be standing six feet away watching Haarlep proposition his partner:
Haarlep: “Undress.”
Gale: 🧍
[Gale disapproves -1]
BRO. DO SOMETHING. 😭
And then you have companions like Lae'zel, who canonically has strong opinions about sharing a partner, yet the game's actual response to the Haarlep encounter is still largely an approval/disapproval reaction rather than an immediate reaction.
The game does recognise that the companions have an opinion, and you can obviously talk with them about it afterwards, but that's not the same thing as actually reacting to what they're witnessing.
I don't need Wyll to suddenly pull out a sword and interrupt the scene. I don't even need the companions to physically prevent the player from making the choice.
I just want something like:
Haarlep: makes their proposition
Tav/Durge: 😶
Romanced Wyll: 👁️👁️
Wyll: “...Are you certain?”
Astarion could visibly tense up or look away. Lae'zel could look visibly furious. Shadowheart could look uncomfortable. Anything.
Because right now the visual language is basically:
“This is an extremely significant and intimate situation involving the person you care about.”
Meanwhile the companions:
🧍 🧍 🧍 🧍
[Karlach disapproves -1]
And no, the afterwards dialogue doesn't fully solve it. The game acknowledging the choice afterwards is good, but there's a huge difference between “I disapprove of what you chose.” and “I am watching this happen to someone I love and I am reacting to it in real time.”
Especially for a romanced companion. That's where I'd argue the missing reactivity is most noticeable.
Other players have discussed this too; here's a Reddit thread with examples
https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGat...ou_think_companions_should_have_reacted/Basically, in summary: I am not asking for companions to prevent the player from making the choice. I'm asking for contextual animations and dialogue so their presence in the scene doesn't feel meaningless.
Because THAT is the issue.
If they're going to physically stand in the room, make them feel like they're actually in the room. Otherwise, just teleport them outside the boudoir until the scene is over, man. 😭
