His writing in act three is strangely inconsistent. It's like the game can't really decide what it wants him to be. It's unfortunate because he's a really neat character.
I enjoy the idea of exploring the morality of a Mind Flayer, but Act 3 is such a mess with his writing.
The choices you make can completely change his character's behavior in a way that seems inconsistent with his motivations. It's bizarre. I honestly can't tell if they wanted to write him as a good or bad guy. His personality seems to change on a whim based on what you say to him. He will dramatically lean towards "I'm very good" if you are trusting, or "I'm very evil and manipulative" if you are suspicious of him with little to no explanation as to why. They make it seem like there should be all this trust building between the Emperor and the MC, but it means nothing when he flips like a switch and doesn't show any trust to the MC in return. If their goal was to try and make us trust the Emperor, then somebody needs to teach him that trust is a two way street.
It also makes the choice between freeing Orpheus or siding with the Emperor an easy choice. In Act 3, the game consistently throws all this dirt at the Emperor that paints him a poor light. It doesn't do the same with Orpheus. In the eyes of the player, Orpheus just seems like the "good" thing to do. He's the Gith hero who will free his people from the Lich. Why in the world would you side with the Emperor when you can help free the Gith? In reality, The Gith empire is extremely evil. Orpheus' mother was no saint. She believed in Mindflayer genocide, enslavement of all other races and that her own people were superior to everyone else. If Orpheus is looking to follow in his mother's footsteps, then the game does a poor job of showing that side of him.
I really hope they revisit Act 3 and flesh it out. As it stands, It's no wonder the community seems to think the Emperor is the "evil" choice whilst Orpheus is the "good choice".
Last edited by Malachite; 28/08/23 06:23 PM.
