For what it's worth, I got a kick out of the dollar store writing criticism. I felt like I had truly been told.
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I believe this fairly fits into the "feedback" portion of the forum. Although, I imagine the Story section is just as fine. I'm a simple whatever kind of person.
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I accept that only so many NPCs can have arcs throughout the saga, but I'd argue I'm talking about something slightly different.
A pivotal NPC like Thaniel matters. Not Thaniel's arc, but his end status. And the only way his end status matters is if you care about him as a character.
This is the problem. He's unnecessary, at least in my opinion. We see the devastation of the land. It's undeniable. That alone elicits emotion by the very nature of creating a mood. But once that land gets personified, suddenly we have to somehow care about this boy, and the only way we can do that is to involve ourselves with him. Unfortunately, that's where it falls apart. He becomes nothing more than a Halsin quest. A box to tick before we stroll into Act III.
I'm not saying the Thaniel angle can't work, but in my opinion, it would need more rewrites, focusing the story on his tragedy and subsequent existence, or lack thereof.
Consider, we don't even get to see Thaniel and Oliver playing together. The game neglects to grow our emotional connection to this character.
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Regarding Isobel's death at the hands of Halsin, I personally find that interesting. It's emotional conflict for Halsin, and that's what makes for good storytelling. How it happened? Shrug. That's part of what has to be figured out in the narrative. Maybe Halsin was swinging at Ketheric but Isobel jumped in the way to save her father. Or maybe Halsin lost himself and went wild on everyone, only realizing later that Isobel was an innocent. There are options. You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
