-Grittier, tonally darker colors with higher definition and contrast, a return to the colors before Patch 8, and increasing what people liked about it. People are rightfully mad. I've seen the words "darker," "realistic," "gritty," thrown around a lot and just want to add that those features are quite immersive. I've seen comparisons to DOS1, but I would also compare it to the Dragon Age series when they abandoned the whole dark fantasy angle for high fantasy, or how Oblivion feels after playing Morrowind. I thought the slightly darker palette actually drew nice parallels with BG2. Instead of increasing that, Patch 8 has veered HARD in the opposite direction.
-Companions should have something to say to Withers when revived, at least once per companion.
-If we are getting dynamic shadows based on sunlight through clouds, can the clouds change, or can the shadows move from pointing Westward to pointing Eastward over time? Or however Toril rotates with respect to the sun? If there can be full clouds and potentially rain effects, can there be a weather-marking of the days?
-Stop recycling story beats from DOS2. Saw this mentioned by GM4Him that playing DOS2 ruined BG3. It is that immersion breaking. I'll accept Astarion (Rogue Elf who puts a knife to your throat upon meeting, who has a dark personality, and is hunted by the one person who is either his freedom or his enslavement, depending on your choices) and the introduction as nice references to the predecessor game, but further story and companion similarities between DOS2 and BG3 will likely be met with frustration. I know it's late to say it, and many probably already have, but that's a mistake.
-Can there be spots in both the world and the Underdark to use a fishing rod at certain bodies of water to fish for food or items that could be buried at the bottom of bodies of water? Including beaches, rivers, lakes, ponds, etc. Not a minigame, more like the shovel. Probably a dex roll. Fishing could also provoke combat encounters with underwater creatures either waiting in ambush or surprised at your lure.
To add to the tonal issues, PLEASE make ceremorphosis feel like a real threat again. My main suggestion:
-Give us a stock companion that, at least for the beginning of Act 1, looks, talks, and acts like a real origin companion, but isn't. Have that companion mention being on a Nautilloid. Then please make that companion undergo ceremorphosis one night, forcing the party to kill the companion's Illithid body before it becomes strong enough to fight back, probably after we try 2 cures or complete the first half of the Act. Or have it happen on the Nautilloid to give us an additional Mind Flayer to fight against Zhalk. The ceremorphosis we watch on the Nautilloid was okay... but the fear of ceremorphosis dissipates too quickly in the narrative, outside of characters worrying about it. Give them something to FEAR. Is it possible to show ceremorphosis in excruciating detail for the person in the pod?
-What happened to the horror of the prologue? The Nautilloid is filled with dark tones, the imagery of the hells, and the body horror of the Mind Flayers, and then... nothing. We have an otherworldly tadpole in our brains! Make us afraid of it! We are pursued by a cult that possibly worships a cabal of eldritch horrors, and yet much of that has been forgotten. When we kill a True Soul, please show more detail in how that parasitic tadpole escapes its now-useless host. Withers' Crypt should also be scarier, design-wise and ambience-wise. There is a lack of a desire to instill fear, uncertainty, and doubt through the aesthetics and ambience of this game, even though it would be REALLY GOOD.
