I have no idea why Isobel is even in the game.
There was no buildup to her "big reveal" nor did it even matter at that point.
Maybe there us more to it if she gets kidnapped, but if you prevent that you just shrug and go on.
Its sadly very obvious that all the polish went into act 1 and the further you progress the worse it gets.
She serves her purpose, she is a npc tied to Ketheric kidnapping her makes him like you and gets a lot of people killed. Saving her makes him like you. Her resurrection gave him a motivation to be chosen, what more do you want? Where you looking for her to be party character. By your argument you could remove auntie Ethel or half the act 1 content.
I think one of the big problems with Isobel is that the reveal feels forced. If you go to the Mausoleum and the bedrooms on the upper floor of Moonrise, you have all this information about her, but you cannot bring this information to her. You get one interaction with her before a big fight, and that's it, yet she's supposed to be this fundamental character to the second Act. The game acts like
is a big deal, but it's just given to you at the last second. Then after the second Act is over, you cannot follow up on the information in any significant way with either Isobel or Aylin. It's made to be this huge cinematic scene, from the liberation from the
to the bright streak across the sky to the death of
to finding out all that happened, and it is posited without any buildup, or any followup. Isobel (and, to a lesser extent, Aylin) exist in a narrative vacuum.
The Hag is not built up to be significant to Act 1. She's a sidequest. The game doesn't treat the moment with the Hag like a big deal. It treats the Nightsong and Isobel like a big deal but devotes almost no narrative effort to it.
EDIT TO ADD BECAUSE I AGREE WITH SOME OF THE ABOVE POSTS:
Even Ketheric felt done dirty. The whole
Ketheric, Isobel, Aylin, Shar, Selune, Absolute
plot felt unsatisfying. The game tells you it's a big deal but doesn't devote any time or quests outside of your first meeting with each character to the task of buildup or followup.
