I also think the comparison to PoE2 is apt.
Well… no. PoE2 has cohesion and worldbuilding to it, that BG3 could very much use. poE2 plot could have a bit more of a drive and be better integrated with faction content (which I refuse to accept as “side content” due to how much it feeds into the crit path’s narrative) and ending could have been better, but it is a good story - parts of it are just not effectively told.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the quality of the story in PoE2. To my mind it cheapened the story of PoE1 (which is still the best video game story to date ) In PoE1 the tale of the saint's war was an indictment of religious extremism, a story about how the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The story was largely
ripped off inspired by the story of the Dawn Cataclysm from Faerun - a story WotC promised us but never delivered. Eothas, as a 'good' god decided that the entire world needed to remade in his image. And his followers became zealots who wreaked all sorts of misery in the name of turning the world to right.
In PoE2 Eothas somehow becomes an atheist who wants to free humanity from the bonds of superstition. I never bought into the change and so I ignored the big statue plot for as long as could. Luckily there's a wiki to remind me of the names of the gods
Likewise I never bought the rewrite of Woedica. For thousands of years she has fought to control the secrets of the gods and only reveals them to her chosen - and you. She goes from the taciturn control freak of PoE1 to that friend who just cannot stop calling at the wrong moment. "O hai! I thought you might like know some more super secret details about how the gods came to be. Got a minute? p.s. don't tell, these secrets are really sekrit"
I largely agree on Orin. She's forgettable. I enjoyed the moments she popped up as someone else but 'core' personality was pretty boring. Of course Bhaal is probably the least interesting of the dead three . . .
I agree
it was real stretch to make her a Bhaalspawn but I was okay with it. Remember that either you or Imoen have give up a portion of your Bhaal taint to bring Sarevok back to life and he does retain some of his Bhaal powers - like the death bringer assault. So a stretch, yes, but not a stretch too far for me.
