Although I agree that there were interesting concepts unfortunately cut, like the Dark Urge-like conflict with the dream visitor and more meaningful choices, I like the guardian better than the seducer as a concept. It definitely makes my good-aligned character feel more conflicted and uncertain, especially when the guardian can literally save you from situations where all your rolls are failing, ha.
It might be true that the Guardian is a more ambiguous figure but you have to ask yourself: is that uncertainty going anywhere? Does the conflict actually exist outside of the player's head? Sure, they removed the obvious evilness of tapping into these powers offered to you... but that also sort of leads it ad absurdum, doesn't it? If there's no moral dimension to this choice and it's just about using power or not without any consequence, then it's not much of a choice to begin with.
I played the game as a lawful good character going in with a traditional fantasy mindset which led me to the assume that power like the tadpole's corrupts and can lead to no good but in reality, this is
at no point reeinforced by the game. It's not even brought up. So all I did was deny myself strong, really powerful abilities to play around with for literally no purpose.
