Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Give option to save Minthara & grove in Act 1

There is no "eclusive evil playthrough".

Larian failed massively with the idea of dangling Minthara as an exclusive grand prize and presenting the choice of joining her as an evil playthrough, when in reality there is no such thing. A story should be an intricate dance between the lines of good and evil that creates fascinating nuances, but never massively tipping on one side or the other until the game actually builds upon it and is ready to unleash the massively branching paths in its final act, which is precisely where Larian failed by presenting an exclusivity choice so early on without any build up prior nor after.

Minthara's exclusivity is not justified and and here's why;

• We can kill MInthara, yet side with Nere later.
• We can kill Nere, yet side with the Drider later.
• We can kill the Drider, yet still enter Moonrise.
• We don't even have to side with Moonrise, yet we can butcher the entire Last Light Inn and no companions will leave.
• But siding with Minthara... WHOOPSIE! Say goodbye to 4 companions and about 60 NPCs along with their stories.

A choice that actually defines an exclusively good or bad playthrough would look like this;

• Side with Minthara - We gain access to Moonrise, but are immediately attacked at Last Light Inn
• Side with the Grove - We gain access to Last Light Inn, but are immediately attacked at Moonrise Towers

Unfortunately there is no such definement nor payoff in the game so it's the reason why Minthara's exclusivity carries no legitimate weight. There is no nuance, there is no walking the line between good and bad. It's just a dumb choice she's locked behind which deletes 4 companions and 60 NPCs for absolutely no reason. Larian needs to simply toss this garbage Minthara exclusivity idea out the window and treat it as just another nuance choice between good and bad so that the story would no longer suffer from the criticism of "evil playthrough sucks balls", because as is evident above there is no exclusively evil playthrough in the game.

There is just one really dumb decision which deletes 4 of our companions and 60 NPCs with meaningful stories. As I have pointed out even during Early Access, this one choice is terribly lackluster and imbalanced precisely because Larian thinks they have to dangle Minthara as some sort of grand prize for an evil playthrough which does not even exist because siding with or against her plays out the story afterwards exactly the same.

For retrospect this is the comparison between good and evil as it was in Early Access and nothing has changed;