Ok so I'm probably the ancient hag of gaming, not some airy fairy type who can't separate fiction from reality and I have been playing computer games for a VERY long time - I know whereof I speak
I can't remember another game that I had so much fun playing, so fully invested in the characters and companions and then was so let down by the ending. Games that released 10 years ago had better resolutions on character arcs and what happens next.
Especially for my romanced character (not Karlach).
My romance was with Astarion from the very begining of the game, he was funny, snarky and very well written and acted. The game gives him a possible redemption arc which my Astarion went for, good options all the way, other companions respected him after his personal quest, the Gur leader thanked him etc etc. He was always in my party and I had become quite invested in what happened to him. In literally the last few minutes of the game all of his redemption arc was ripped away and he runs away burning whilst another character makes some tasteless quip about it. His comment when I affirmed that we were staying together was so sad
and I had to reload several times to get even that much.
This is a guy whose personal backstory is 200 years of misery and torture, not much different to Karlach but lasting far far longer.
He's suffered enough Larian.
He had a brilliant character progression throughout his good story, turning into a reasonably caring honourable person and I might as well not have bothered. He deserved better especially as a possible better soluution was presented about 5 seconds before he had to run off and that previous games in the series have a cure, never mentioned in this game. Redemption arcs should be just that not played as a joke by another character
I was left very sad instead of bouyant.
And the other characters I had in my camp or who I knew very well?
little to no clue what happened to most of them. Many personalities, animals and friends and i got a couple of lines on some of them and that was it. What sort of ending do I get? What closure?
Credits roll. Game over. Thats simply not good enough to end a progression that can easily last 100 hours. Instead of feeling hopeful and pleased we had dealt with an all encompassing threat - instead I was left sad and deflated and know that my plans for another playthrough will have to be curtailed to Act 1 and 2 only - because honestly I would rather not have these endings at all and will be happier walking away while the shadowed lands behind me start to come to life.
Other story beats in the game have had camp parties, get togethers of a sort. We need something like this at the very end of the game or at the very least some voice over slides. What we actually get? Very lackluster all round and the dialogue writing at the very end seemed to be of far lower quality than it had been in previous story beats. I'm very glad Karlach is now getting some love in the latest patch, but others need it as well.
