So, I have been trying to think about how I felt about the ending of Act 3 and it definitely feels rushed and not at all like how I would have imagined it going, especially given the ways I played the game. My biggest issue is the choices you're given because I feel like there should be another option, especially with how I did play. It made it feel like a lot of the choices I did make didn't matter, nor did my playstyle matter.
The fact that my only options within the Astral Plane after the first confrontation with the Elder Brain are: Let the Emperor/you become a Mindflayer and kill Orpheus, Free Orpheus and you or Karlach become a Mindflayer while the Emperor just leaves to join the Netherbrain, just...Didn't sit right with me. The whole playthrough I refused to eat any other parasites, despite much prompting from the Emperor. I kept making it clear that I would not become a Mindflayer, nor my friends. I also promised to free Orpheus. Now, the other thing I did though WAS to basically make the Emperor trust me. So when it comes to the Orpheus decision, my only options are to kill Orpheus or tell the Emperor I don't trust him so he immediately leaves and sides with the Netherbrain (which seems like a weird choice on his part since he's spent so long NOT wanting to be under its thrall again), and it really sucked as well as doesn't make sense. Not even a single option to TRY and convince him to stay and keep working together with Orpheus? We STILL NEED A MINDFLAYER, and Orpheus knows that and is obviously capable of putting aside his hatred of illithids to defeat the Netherbrain. Keeping the Emperor with us would easily solve the issue of Tav/Karlach or Orpheus becoming a Mindflayer. And even still, the option should have been there even if it did fail. The fact that we couldn't even TRY to get the Emperor to stay is really baffling to me. Not even a high-level persuasion roll?
Even if it didn't work out, I should have been able to try and talk the Emperor into it, since until this point I had basically been playing him somewhat (at the very least letting him think he was in control etc.). I would have thought especially with "romancing" him that he'd be more willing to listen to you. He even says that to defeat the brain we have to do the unexpected, and despite everything I keep managing to succeed when I shouldn't. But when I don't immediately agree with him he goes, "Never mind then, I'll go join the thing that will control everything I do - something I made very clear that I despise." WHAT WOULD BE MORE UNEXPECTED/SUCCESSFUL THAN ACTUALLY GOING ALONG WITH *MY* PLAN????? Truly truly truly infuriating. All the "scheming" on my end, and I can't even utilise it. My playthrough involved convincing people to do stuff constantly, even the Emperor. So, it's strange to me that I don't even get to attempt to persuade him to join us and a freed Orpheus. Whatever beef Orpheus and the Emperor have could have been sorted out AFTER the brain is defeated. I got so instantly deflated by this that I ended my streak of playing every day since launch and just didn't feel the incentive to "complete" the game. In the end, I did finish it just to finish it a few days later, but I didn't enjoy it at all.
The blow is even greater when there's no real way to save Karlach *except* letting her become a Mindflayer, and my game just...Didn't show me any of my friends' epilogues except Astarion who I romanced (I also romanced Halsin but I guess I only get ONE epilogue). Not even a way at the end of the game to go around and talk to your friends afterwards? No little party scene like after you help the Tieflings in Act 1? Just credits, Wither's scene and if you want to play you go back to whatever your last load is. It feels like such a letdown.
There just feels like so much is missing and rushed with Act 3, particularly towards the end. And I guess that's very much true considering that there has been a lot of content just taken out. At this stage, to me, this feels like an unfinished game. It should not have been released when it was. It's such a disappointment because until a certain point, I was marvelling at how fantastic the game was, but after a semi-strong start with Act 3 and the starting area
of Riverington and Wyrm's Crossing,
and the excitement of getting into
I just remember feeling constantly like I was doing something wrong, something was missing, some cutscene never played, some bug stopped me doing something, suddenly everything storywise was seeming less finished, more rushed etc. Time and patches will tell if Act 3 improves at all I suppose. I'm just immensely disappointed with the ending of the game, and I know that I am one of many saying the same thing.
