Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin Romance Improvements

I wanted to post this in the Larian discord, but my feedback got a bit away from me and it is too long to post there. I want it be abundantly clear how much I love Halsin and that I am endlessly grateful that Larian listened and made him a companion. Even as he is he is easily one of my favorite characters and the game feels so much better with him as a part of it. But that does not mean I do not have notes and in an attempt to at the very least air my thoughts and hopefully get them out of my head and cure my brainrot that is been festering all week pertaining to these notes, I want to post everything I have to say here in one fell swoop. It feels weird going this in depth about it, but I want to present everything I think in the hopes that at least some of this could be added/modified. Some of it seems to be a popular request from what I have seen and I want to lend my voice to those requests. The rest is just a result of me being overly invested I'm sure and hopeful thinking to help polish his character some more and make him feel more 3-dimensional and as complete as the other companions. So, here goes:

Halsin Romance Improvements:
• We should be able to either give or receive a bear hug, at least once, if not at will like the kisses.

• Halsin should have some kind of reactivity to the animals in camp, either them playing/cuddling with him, or at the very least some dialogue directed at the pc for taking in the critters.

• He should whittle something for a romanced pc, duck or pipe would be cool, similar to how we can give shadowheart gifts (i.e. night orchid and shar idol)

• Minor thing but it would be cool if possible, I took his pipe from his grove knowing he wouldn’t react to me having it, but it would be fun if there was a dialogue option addressing it initiated either by pc or him.

• I think the Halsin’s history with drow is nice, but it lacks nuance that such a sensitive background requires. We should be able to address this trauma with him a little more in depth, he seems like a survivor who has recovered but I don’t think there is enough focus on that and how he came to the acceptance he has. It just feels unsatisfying. Also, we should definitely be able to have this conversation BEFORE sleeping with the drow to see if he will tell us truly and honestly how he feels and if he is ACTUALLY okay with doing it (same for Astarion, they both say they’re interested, sure Astarion seems a little anxious but his reaction could also be read several ways, and Halsin at least legitimately seems interested but afterwards you find out how Astarion dissociated and Halsin had this unsavory experience). I like that these are choices and I like how they each respond, but it feels wrong that we have to actually go through with the orgy to get any of this information. I want the option to stay there as well as their reactions, just maybe more nuance or more ability to check in with what they really want?

• I like the poly representation and it should definitely stay, but I think that is at times contradictory when Halsin talks about it, making it a bit confusing, also I think we should be able to have more conversation about it with maybe an option to challenge him without fully rejecting him.

• I also think there needs to be more nuance to his seemingly random switch to accepting Shadow Druid ideology. This feels bizarre and a bit out of place. There needs to be a little more build up to this particular conversation, more small steps of him starting to seriously consider that their doctrine is more accurate than the one he had for so long and so adamantly. Also, it would be nice to have a little more conversation about the shadow druids with him about their doctrine and their background and why his enclave though they were so wrong. Not necessary, but it would really help to flesh these things out so it does not feel so out of character when he suddenly thinks the shadow druids were right. I just don’t think someone like Halsin should have his clearly longstanding beliefs uprooted so easily/quickly. I like the disillusionment he starts to feel though, just needs polish. Oh, and we should definitely be able to challenge a little bit more than we actually are like how you can challenge any of the other companions at any given point about what they’re after, having a single line in a single conversation just doesn’t do something like deep disillusionment justice and then having him respect us for either challenging him or agreeing with him would really make sense because he is wise and intellectual and should enjoy a conversation along these lines.

• When we talk about our feelings for each other, it seems to be kind of hollow/shallow coming from him like maybe we get to respond to his comment about relationships as looking for confirmation of his feelings and agreeing it doesn’t need to be labeled, especially when he starts the conversation with “my heart.” just feels odd as is I guess?

• I LOVE how he subverts our expectations so much, as seeming like the dutybound, not driven by carnal desires type and completely flips that on its head. It also makes complete and total sense, so I do not want ANY of that cut or heavily modified really, just add in more non-sexual intimacy moments, even just little things to help balance it out. Maybe a cuddle scene, or a walk in the forest, something druidy/Halsiny, just something(s) that add more depth to the romance and make the “my heart” truly feel genuine, because Halsin is and deserves to be shown as a truly genuine, in touch with his feelings, guy.

• Also, Halsin should have a little more reactivity to the shadowcursed land. It’s weird that we still have to go through SO MANY steps to get him into our party and have him miss out on a decent amount of content if you do not beeline through his stuff. On the one hand, I do like this because you kind of have to show him how much you’re willing to do for him for him to reciprocate (I also know this is due to him being made a companion late in development), but on the other hand it would feel so much better for him to able to join us much earlier on when we get to the shadow land, or maybe give us more back story than he actually does, especially because he could easily tell us what he tells us when he is recruitable about his predecessor earlier on. It feels weird that he wont tell you that until that point. Further, if we could get more reactivity from him here it would go a long way. I found all kinds of hints and clues and pieces of the story of the shadowcursed land from a century ago and some of them., especially the druid journal, seemed like he should have a reaction or at least a new line of dialogue to, yet nothing. It would just really solidify the story and his history if we could get him the party earlier and have him have a reaction to at least some of the notes, ancient battlegrounds, etc. On that note, I also don’t think he tells us enough about how deeply it truly affected him when he encountered the curse the first time. Losing all of your friends and loved ones then being thrust into responsibility and having to leave people behind ought to leave just a big mark, even if it was 100 years ago for him and he’s wise and mature and stoic. It just is a little unsatisfying and there is not enough to make it feel like we can form real bond, in my opinion. What he does tell us is still really nice though.

• This is probably not possible, but I still have to mention it because I think there was some seriously missed opportunities as far as writing goes. There are references everywhere to a werebear in the region. Haslin has bear claw scars (mind you, i ADORE the subversion of how he ACTUALLY got the scars as it stands, but still) and when he gets riled up it is difficult to not wildshape, this could have been a really cool way of finding out he’s not just a druid, but also a werebear (honestly I like this idea, but the whole thing still works anyway, just would have been cool and would have really helped make those references to the famous werebear more important and I love tying little things like that together). The bigger missed opportunity I feel, however, and had speculated before the game released and really truly hoped would be there was that maybe Halsin somehow, in his youth, had something to do with the curse coming about, perhaps Isobel’s death was related to something he had done in wrecklessness or accidentally, thus setting off the chain of events of Thorm casting the curse and in so doing Halsin’s markings (that were black in EA) bound him to the curse in a way so he would literally suffer along with the land, not just because of the loss of life and Thaniel, but also PERSONALLY and PHSYICALLY, and then lifting the shadow curse would make those markings fade to red with the implication that they could heal and disappear entirely someday after the closing of the game. Or at least something like that. I know that’s a lot to ask and I’m not sure if there is already a canon cause of death for Isobel that I just have not found but I thought before release all of this would be phenomenal because it would really make Halsin a truly 3-dimensional character with more obvious flaws/mistakes in his past than what he hints at without any real detail and I really liked the idea that as good and wholesome as he is, he made such a big and lasting mistake (which would also help to explain his obsession more) and now he’s trying to put it right and still feels a personal guilt that he needs to learn to forgive himself for.

• I would really like to, after speaking Shadow Whiskers and hearing Halsin’s comments, be able to have even just a tiny mini conversation with him about how horrible it was, but also that her killing everyone around isn’t justice, or just something so that we can give him our comments about the situation.

• I have not played Dark Urge yet, but I hear there is not any special content for that PC with a Halsin romance and that is incredibly disappointing because he seems like the epitome of a character who would have the patience, guidance and devotion for a Dark Urge who is trying like to hell to be better.

• And last but not least, Halsin mentions that he’d like to come back and see the town healing and I would LOVE for our character to have an optional epilogue where we join him and see it ourselves and in the case of a romanced Astarion, if no one else, to have him come as well because in my opinion there’s nothing left for him in the city and being with Halsin, a healing land and the romanced pc could do wonders for his own healing. I just really want a nice payoff to breaking the shadowcurse since we don’t really get to see it except for in a really short cutscene leaving for the city and it would also be nice to have that ending for PC and Astarion.

Pretty sure this is everything. I know it's a lot and I'm sorry, I had a lot of thoughts and I could not be satisfied until I shared them. Most of this is probably not coherent and I feel like I did not express some of my thoughts effectively, but I have already spent way too much time compiling this list and I'm sure a lot of it is also too much to ask for when we have already gotten so much. Okay, leaving the soapbox now. Thank you Larian so much for such an incredible game and even more so for open forums on SO MANY platforms for us to share drivel like what I just posted.

P.S. I only increased text size because this much text was soooo difficult for even me to read with its default size.