Originally Posted by BeeBee
Originally Posted by AkaiMikadzuki
A little bit about datamining and cut out, and what kind of holes were formed in the companions. A lot of things here are not even related to datamining, but to what is left in the game.

First, I'll tell about Kasador and Astarion. Their plot very clearly suffers from narrative holes.

City Judge Astarion lives an ordinary life. (after all, his story about corruption was removed). One day he is attacked by monster hunters (Gur) and beaten half to death because of something. But out of nowhere and it is not clear why Kasador appears and turns him. (let's say it's a real coincidence). But why the Gur attacked is still not known. Next, we meet one of the gurs, kill him, and ask who sent him - Maiden Fel sent him. He doesn't know Casador. And then, it turns out that the Gur were looking for Astarion, because he gave their children to Casador. Did the corpse lie to me? And here are the monster hunters and the spawn of vampires that have kidnapped THEIR CHILDREN. And they decide....to reconcile? Rili? What about Meiden Fel? After one failed attempt to capture Astarion, Kasador simply waits for Astarion. But we will generally go far from Baldur's Gate. He doesn't know why we're there. In my opinion, even without the cut data, this is a simplification of the characters. Astarion is only a victim. Casador is only evil. It is sad.

About Voss
Without a datamine, many people dont know that at the end we meet the dragon of Voss. Why is he all battered and his attitude towards us has changed?

About Raphael

Raphael offering a deal to rid us of a tadpole that leads nowhere and just gets hung up?

About Halsin

Halsin, who killed Isobella, is in fact guilty of the curse



Such examples, I think, are full of the rest. And it saddens me to see how much the characters have been simplified. We no longer have that depth. I loved BG3 for its depth. I still love this game but it's sad to see how things have changed


Same. I miss all of these really juicy, really interesting and complex backstories - just like I miss the original Shadowheart, before they barbified her in EA. Her attitude towards the world and the player was so much better.

I feel like they softened everyone in general because a few players complained about "all the evil companions". And so now they are more than a little bland. However, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the Baldur's Gate franchise was never about having lily-white innocent friends in your party; a cursory look at the previous games shows that many of the companions were worse than the worst version of EA!Astarion.

What makes it funny/sad/ironic is how people are probably most fond of the characters they changed the least (Lae'zel, Astarion) and Karlach. And as much as I love Karlach, I think I'm on the side of the arguments that she feels far too 21st Century than any other character, and doesn't really feel at all like a decade-long infernal champion escapee.