Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion End-Game Feedback

So to start off, I'm fo the same oinion as many of the players. Act 1 was very well polished, Act 2 was fine but felt a little faster, and Act 3 felt rushed and less detailed. It culminates in the ending feeling like only the choices that had any impact were the "destroy the brain" VS "control the brain". Whether you trusted the Emperor or not, embraced your Illithidness or not, or even whether you freed Orpheus or became Illithid yourself felt like were very minor changes in comparison. It all leads to the same end result. Furthermore, there is not even a chance to try and get Orpheus and the Emperor to work together (a chance, I say!)

Here's what I 'd suggest for the ending itself:

After the final decision, if you picked destroy, there could be a segment where you can move around and talk to your companions and whatever NPCs made it (like, for instance, if they are alive and such: Dame Aylin, The Emperor, Orpheus, Duke Ravenguard, minor NPCs that helped you along the way or in the final battle like Zevlor, and such). Maybe even something like the camp party in the end of Act 1. The main point being, the ability to talk and listen to these NPCs and have more than a few dialogue inputs about where everyone goes from there. And it should change according to your current approval or romance/friend status.

I understand some people were upset by not being able to save Karlach or a "good route" Astarion still burning in the sun - I don't actually think it'd be much benefit to have a 100% happy ending where these problems are magically fixed. I tghink that those facts are, by themselves, fine, but I think players perhaps wanted more closure. Talkign to Astarion after he runs away from the sun would help, I think, like figuring out where he goes from there, whether or not you come with, etc. Same with Karlach. In my endings, where Wyll is around and goes to Avernus with her, it felt like it all happened so fast that there was no sense of closure. I can get where some people are coming from not wanting these problems to exist and wanting a good happy ending for everyone, but I think that the closure would matter more. You can't save everyone, and such, but closure still matters a lot.

The Emperor himself, particularly if you "romanced' him, has barely any lines at all in the end. Orpheus had a bit more, if you freed him, and while that's fine and good, you and the Emperor have kind of gone through a lot together, whether you trusted him or not, and I'd have hoped for a bit more... closure as well, I think.
Again, the option to speak to these characters at some length would improve it significantly. I recall there being something like that in the ending of Dragon Age Origins (sorry for being yet another person comparing Baldur's Gate 3 to that game), where before the big ending slideshow/party, you could talk to all your companions that made it as well as some NPCs.

A cutscene with your romanced lover(s) at the end of this "party" or area, if you romanced anyone, would also be nice. And I AM including the squid here! We are "bonded", and I don't even get a word, whether loving because he never had anyone accept him the way he is now, or spurning because he was using me the whole time and now he doesn't need me anymore and we should part ways? Nothing? Not even a crumb, Larian? Come on...

And, my final point about the ending itself: all those sidequests, all those characters you helped or did not help, killed or did not kill... what happened after? What were the minor consequences of your less "important" actions? A slideshow would have been great. For example - the hag from Act 1. What happens if you never even went to her teashouse, what if you killed her then but didn't complete the hag survivors questline in Act 3? What happens to the myconids? What happens in the society of brilliance if Omeluum is alive or dead?
And what about your Illithid powers? I admit it is very funny to me as an Emperor enjoyer that if you eat all the tadpoles you want, nothing bad really happens to you. You can literally trust him to the end LOL. Is that meant to be so? Not even a consequence to your soul? Since, y'know, apparently Illithids don't have them, shouldn't yours be at least a little eaten up if you filled your brain with worms? No brain damage from where the worms chewed on me? Damn, I guess Empy really told the truth about everything and I can trust him with my life and soul, huh!

Now, this one is a little less the ending but moreso the choices leading up to it, regarding the Emperor and Orpheus, in the Astral plane.
I understand Empy leaving to join the Netherbrain, frankly. I know it pissed a lot of people off, and some people didn't understand his logic. In character, he prioritizes his survival - his self preservation - above everything. That's his whole motivation for defeating the Netherbrain, essentially. He wants to save the world because he lives in it!

I understand that, in his eyes, freeing Orpheus means he'd lose his independence, and his mind is forfeit - thus, his choice to join the Netherbrain is less of a "well you're being a real meanie so now I join the villain bye" and more of a "if you free him, my mind is forfeit, and then he kills me. If I join the brain, I have 1% of a chance of staying alive, even if my mind is no longer my own. I guess I'll do that then". I can understand him feeling like he has no choice. I think that thought process was not clear to most players, maybe it could be worked on.

Moreso, I think players who trustedhim should be being given the chance to try to change his mind. A very difficult task, which to be successful would require that 1, you have given him trust indeed - and no, I'm not just talking about having fun times with his tentacles. 2, you have to have high enough persuasion for this task, and/or some evidence to support what you're saying, and 3, developed enough Illithid potential (because that ties back into trusting him and even understanding him as an illithid). A sort of "I have trusted you all along, now I'm asking you to trust me" thing. Very difficult to convince a guy who pretty much just cares about himself anything else - he IS Illithid. You could potentially convince him it's too risky to kill Orpheus and assimilate him: remind him of the same thing he says in response to you asking if you can kill Orpheus and take his power - it isn't a garantee that his power doesn't die with him
I mean, we know it doesn't, but the characters do not and that is important. I felt like that was kind of overlooked in that dialogue (like most things leading up to the ending, everything happened so fast)

Again, I'm talking about the chance. You can still fail - maybe you don't even get the option to talk about trust if you did not, in fact, trust him at all. If you fail, you either turn against him or go along with him as he wanted.
And even if you could convince the Emperor, you'd still have to convince Orpheus to go along with this uneasy alliance. And man, he's not happy with either of you. The Emperor did... all of that *gestures vaguely*. And you reek of Illithid, potentially fornicated witha mind flayer, and slaughtered his honor guard. I get that he'd be pissed off. You'd need to convince him that you all need each other. Orpheus needed you to get the hammer and free him - the honor guard wouldn't have been able to do it by hitting those infernal contraptions over and over, would they? And he needs an Illithid to hold the netherstones - stones that you got, by the way. If you fail to make this makeshift alliance work, then you're forced to either kill Orpheus and let the Emperor snack on his nogging, or you turn on the Emperor and break his little squid heart in the process. Whether he flees and joins the Brain or you kill him... Well. Either would work. The chance to do it, and the possibility to fail at it, would be nice.

I get this could seem like a wishy washy 100% save everyone happy ending thing, which I just criticized above. However, fear not - I can think of negative consequences for it too!
In the event of your Illithid potential-ness being bad for your long term health and soul (which... it feels like it should?), it would still have a bittersweetness to it, preventing it from being some sort of ideal utopian good ending that every "good route player" wants to pick. Since, y'know, at least in my opinion, you'd need to be a little mind flayey to convince the Emperor to put his survival instincts on hold for a second or two.

Which brings me back to - what kind of negative consequences should you face if you embraced your Illithid potential anyway?
Maybe having a piece of your soul chewed out. Maybe losing it altogether, dependign on how many tadpoles you slurped. Maybe forced ceremorphosis by the end if you destroyed the Absolute but ate all the brainworms you could find. I think that'd be justified. Maybe some brain damage. Something meaningfu, something personal to you. Are you willing to sacrifice your own personal 'good end" for keeping Orpheus alive as well as your sinister looking guardian?

Could also lock you out of certain choices - the Emperor would need to be holding those stones, so you need to actually trust him with that. Could he even be convinced to dominate the Netherbrain when Orpheus is loose and could kick his ass if he went to war with the Githyanki? I don't think so. An uneasy alliance between them would likely lock you out of that particular choice, or becoming a mind flayer yourself (or having Karlach/Orpheus do it in your stead - you already have an Illithid).
Could also have Orpheus slap the Emperor in the face in the end, before he leaves to kick Vlaakith's undead butt. It's okay if he does that. I love the Emperor, but he deserves it, I know.

The "evil"/"control" ending, as well, may benefit from some of these suggestions. I suppose talking to your enthralled companions and seeing the full extent of your evil deeds could be fun (or heartwrenching, ahaha, a 'what have I done?' moment) rather than just a cinematic where you (or possibly the Emperor lol) look sinister and evil. Again, the slideshow afterwards would also be cool. Although I understand the "dominate the Netherbrain" ending might not be considered the "canon" one - I use this word loosely - it can still benefit from more closure, even if... negative, haha. A real "look how much chaos you've sown, naughty, naughty player"

I could go on and on, with my suggestions, but this is the gist of it. The most important points to me, regardless of how they would be developed, are:
1. Talking to your companions and other important NPCs that survived the end (which helps point 3 below), getting a chance to discuss where you go to from here.
2. A slideshow with some of the consequences of your minor and major choices, showing what was the impact you had in the world.
3. More closure, and a slower pace. The fast pace of Act 3's ending, starting in the Astral plane and culminating with the ending itself negatively impacts the sense of closure.

I left the game feeling underwhelmed and disappointed. That is not the sentiment you want an ending to have. Bittersweetness from reaching the end of an epic adventure is expected, a sense of accomplishment is ideal, but... being underwhelmed and finding it lackluster is not.