Originally Posted by robertthebard
However, the "the story is the main character's story" happens in every RPG, except for, off the top of my head, both IWD games, because there we made the whole party.
Let me try again.

The problem is that in BG3 it is not your main character's story, and yet the game plays as if it were. If you change written character dynamics in your games, but not adjust gameplay dynamics than issues appear that haven't been there before.

In BG1&2 the game's story is YOUR story, you are the protagonist and all companions act as SIDE characters to your story. BG3 is different and acts as an ensamble cast - but relations between player and companions aren't the designed for the purpose of the singleplayer. That something works in one title, doesn't automatically work for a different titles if core mechanics of the narrative have been changed.

Like chain mechanics works fine in KOTOR or later Bioware RPGs, when party management during exploration is non-existent and game is from third-person view so companions can be sneakily teleported over whenever they get lost without drawing attention to itself. It works much worse, if the game expects regular and precise party control, and when top down view makes it obvious when your dumb followers get confused by ladders and jumps. Not a problem in other titles, but a unique problem in Larian games

D:OS2 shares a lot of issues with BG3, as in broad strokes it is more or less the same game. I definitely DID have issues with D:OS2, specifically with origin system, but this particular issue is less prominent as companions are lesser. They have very little narrative presenceand for the most part act as mercenaries with occasional story bits. I was never under an impression that any of my companions in D:OS2 had strong opinions about anything - they were there, had things they wanted to do, but for example none of them strongly campaigned for a particular way to leave the opening prison island.

As I said earlier, if companions in BG3 were written just a bit less forcefully, or narative found some excuse for them to turn to Tav and say: "We can't agree or anything. Those are the options, you decide and for the greater good we will fall in line, even if we will hate your guts if you won't choose our option". BG3 could address it narrative dissonance in many different subtle ways, they just can't be asked to (at least based on what we have access to).

No one asked here to gut companions or rewrite them. Just to make Tav vs companions dynamic a less jarring. Sure, gameplay will demand cetrain contrivances. It is your writers job to make those contrivances feel natural and ideally an extension of the story and themes.

Last edited by Wormerine; 01/02/23 05:47 PM.