I never got the impression that he was an alcoholic, though.
It’s so interesting that we can all play the same game and come away with different impressions! I agree that we don’t have enough info to be sure of a specific diagnosis of alcoholism, but for me the facts that Wyll seems to drink too much, seems drunk when spoken to at camp and displays behaviours that I’ve found typical of people with not entirely healthy relationships with alcohol were the things that seemed most obvious about him. But of course everyone is free to interpret the story and characters in whatever way makes most sense to them!
Wyll is an immature character. This contrasts with his supposed chain of past exploits in a way that's a bit too on the nose. I would solve this by making it clear he's been the blade of frontiers for maybe... 2-3 years? Early on, anyway.
Case in point, I personally had never seen the Wyll we meet in BG3 as immature. He was when he made the pact, but now seems to hold his younger self in contempt. Yes he plays up the “Blade of Frontiers” persona, but I don’t get the impression he really believes he’s a hero. He feels responsibility to the myth and thinks ordinary folk need and deserve heroes, and tries as much as he can to act up to the role. But when he does that, to me it always smacks a bit of desperation and someone trying too hard to convince others and himself, but is now really too old and experienced to buy his own BS. I feel he works better as someone who is at least in his 30s, who has been trapped in the pact long enough to be thoroughly disillusioned, ground down by the demands of his patron and despair that he’ll ever win free, but despite everything still has some pride in the good he has managed to do and a streak of idealism, determination and optimism that offer some hope of redemption. But also a destructive streak of anger at the goblins, at Mizora, at his father and at himself that could lead him down darker paths. And because he’s not someone who is used to being honest with others, or even with himself, it’s very hard to be sure of who he really is or where his story is actually likely to go.
Of course, as many of us have said, he’s also not particularly consistently presented and it doesn’t always feel that the writers know exactly what they’re doing with him. Though perhaps they’ll surprise me and pull all the strands together in a satisfying way. Or perhaps they will make some changes that will help him make sense.
I guess the one thing that’s certain is that many of us will still have different takes on who he is and whether the character works, even after we’ve played the full game!
