I completely agree that more screen time would ruin the mystery of whether we trust him or not. But I also think that if someone decides to have the romance scene with him, it's because they already trust him (or because they want to see what happens, but I'm not talking about these cases). And I think it's fair that if you decide to trust him and have this… something with him, you should see the consequences of this decision.
I am aware, like everyone, of the conflict that the Emperor vs. Orpheus is generating, but it was not my intention to discuss this in this thread. The only thing I will say about this is that I can understand why the Emperor is leaving, but I think it would be nice if it was explained better. I also agree that the option of convincing both characters to cooperate would be satisfying for most players, because choosing one of them is something that most don't like. But hey, like I said, I didn't mean to discuss this specific part here.
"Yet, there is clearly some connection between him and Tav, if nothing else based on mutual need and trust."
This is something I disagree with. From my point of view, if you choose the romance, the game gives you a few options, like calling him lover, having him reference this specific scene if you betray him, and maybe a little hint about "something" at the end where you can stay with him. I mean we still have some options related to this... my problem is that they are there for nothing and it's not fair. I've been seeing the impact of what I decide throughout the story, but with this, even when I have some choices, I feel like they don't mean anything to the game or, more specifically, to my playthough. And this was designed for something, the lines where you can choose to call him lover were designed for something, it's sad to see that it doesn't have a real impact...
"For a game keeping the choices open it sure does have some preferences and rewards you better for one path than the other."
Maybe, but we're talking about a game where you can do bad things and be a bad person. I mean, maybe I'm repeating myself too much, but you can choose even the wrong path and you will see the impact of this. I really don't think it's fair that people who choose to side with the Emperor and romance him see their decisions ignored from the game.
