Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Feedback on Halsin (Discord influenced)

Honestly, to me it just looks like Halsin's writer threw a hissy fit when the higher ups told him to make him a companion due to fan popularity. The whole thing just reads like one big revenge plan. Or maybe the higher ups just thought it was a great idea to center this game around sex and/or sexual deviance, because that's an age old surefire way to get sales. (Personally I was quite disgusted when Tusk the boar told my character that he was upset that Halsin wasn't around to service him.)

Either way, much of this game seems to have been written by a hormone-hyped teenager. Or maybe I'm just too old for video games now. In any case, I certainly don't like this being done to one of the very first game franchises that got me into RPG PC games to begin with.

Agree. The game gets more horny as story quality drops.

With how he proudly and gleefully presented the bear sex scene at Planet of Hell, I doubt it. I think he took all the thirst on Reddit as an excuse to go nuts.

Also, do you mean the boar asking for a mate?

Did he really do that?

Ew

Halsin says repeatedly during vthw game that he dislikes being objectified, so I find it both disturbing and baffling that Larian and the VA (though he seems like a nice person) keeps doing this.

The implications of doing such a thing is horrible, and it is honestly sickening to see this, in the same way it would be sickening to make fun of Astarions trauma. Or openly saying ||"Everyone should tell Gale to kill himself! Isn't it funny?"||

Now Halsin is a video game character, but we should not aspire to such behaviour that is being placed on real life people.

When others oversexualize a person, it can lead to various traumas and consequences:

Emotional Trauma: Oversexualization can cause profound emotional distress, leading to feelings of objectification, shame, and humiliation.
(Halsin shows clear signs of this)

Psychological Impact: It may result in low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and body image issues.

Boundaries and Consent: Oversexualization can blur boundaries and lead to instances of non-consensual behavior, contributing to feelings of violation.
(Did anyone say Halsin and SH?)

Impact on Relationships: It can strain personal and romantic relationships, as trust and intimacy may be compromised.
(No commitment?)

Victim Blaming: Oversexualized individuals may be unfairly blamed for the actions or intentions of others, exacerbating their trauma.

Reduced Autonomy: It may limit one's ability to make choices and decisions free from external sexualization.

Long-Term Effects: These experiences can have long-lasting effects on mental and emotional well-being, impacting future relationships and self-identity.

Is it possible for this practice to be stopped? Especially in light of all the negative feedback? The burst you got from the bear scene is over, and you have just had to release a patch to turn down the horny. Might I suggest you start limiting yourself of enabling behaviour you are advising as bad in the game itself?

The boar says Halsin promised him a mate. That's not the same thing as being his mate.

The line is "he promised me a mate". That can be taken a number of ways, which I believe is intentional. In fact, I'm sure someone feels quite clever about it.

Oh yes, he did.

I think this is a bit of a stretch, but there is no way to know.

This is why I dont like it when streamers put the dog collar on Astarion. It seems to be in poor taste given his story.

I'm pretty sure the mate was suppose to be the boar that you see in the bushes when you meet Astarion. (the one you see dead later)

That boar has a male voice, so I think not. I do understand that animals aren't necessarily heterosexual, but the word "mate" when used as a noun implies reproduction.

He's been a Sex-Joke ever since that Panel from Hell, Halsin was at least respectable and cool in EA, but ever since that Bear scene, I can never take him seriously, he'll always be the Bear Sex Man, a joke of a character who's reputation he can never live down.

Wanted to add something that I had written in another thread to share my thoughts on here, too. Also, I will try to add more feedback over the weekend (work has kept me busy lately).

First of all: possible trigger warning.

Just to clarify that: I have never romanced Halsin, I liked him as a buddy in EA and I really hoped for a nice adult friendship with the release (or lets call it bromance). My fiancee and I are playing BG3 together (sitting next to each other) so I was totally able to see all he has to offer in terms of romance.
While it started out pretty fine and I felt like he became what I was hoping for (and with that also what a lot of people were wishing for), listening to his voicelines after we liberated the Shadowlands was a huge disappointment.

I don't know how else to phrase it beside: It felt like my Tav lost a potential really good friend. We seemed to be sharing so many values (he is well-spoken, caring, friendly, grown-up) just to lose all of that. Suddenly, he lost so many personality traits I liked him for. Its not about him being open for just lot of sex or anything, its more that he showed a side of himself that he hid well before. It almost felt like a betrayal.

As you know, things got even worse with all the additional creepy sex offers (that he never was invited to). His whole Drow "misadventures" got me to a point where I really started to hate what had become of him. I started to hate Larian (or Halsins writer to be precise) to show such a lack of empathy. Fortunately, I never experienced any kind of SA, but I know people who went through different phases and stages of being exposed to toxic and abusive behaviour - be it being beaten by alcoholics, being forced to move to another city every few months or years because a parent had a new relationship or being beaten a lot just so the victim could be blamed for his sisters' faults.

While some of them had a really hard time making it through life and/or therapy, I only once experienced someone claiming it had it positive sides ("If they beat me, at least they dont beat my sisters") and that was pretty much while the abuse was still happening.

Sadly, I know that there are lots of victims out there, who either blame themselves for being the guilty one (like "If someone abused me, maybe I did something wrong and deserved it") or trying to find the positive things in it (I just read a story about a woman who never found joy in the toxic relationship she had, but even tho it was more SA than mutual sex, she was at least thankful for his attention - and that made me feel so bad and lead to even more hate for the way Larian handles this topic). It feels like Halsin is still in this stage of defense, of sheltering his mind and heart from what he went through and trying to convince himself (more than anyone else) that what he had to go through wasn't "that bad".

If we try to apply Erikson's stages of psychosocial development on Halsin (using a formula x = 0.2987y² and transposing it - x = elf-age and y = human years, so that he had been around 29 years old 100 years ago), we could even go further deeper down the rabbit hole.
Erikson calls the phase between 20 - 44 years the "Early adulthood", "Intimacy vs. Isolation". The main value in this phase is love, being present in the form of friends, family and love interests. It is within this stage, that we seek to find someone special for us to settle down for the rest of our life.
The main question in this phase is "Can I unite myself with another person?"
Now let us transfer this knowledge over to Halsin, who most likely spend the 3 years as a slave within the "Intimacy vs. Isolation" phase. It was within this time, that he learned that trusting others leads to being hurt, being abused and living a life with constant fear. This lead to his isolation within his own heart. He had to cut the connection between his heart and his body, isolating himself. All of that led to Halsin still being stuck within this phase or even somewhat developing backwards, more towards the phase before, where sex has a way more important role.
Erikson says about the "Intimacy vs. Isolation" phase: "[...]there is more to intimacy than sexual gratification." and this is exactly what Halsin never learned.


A thank you to this post for being an inspiration to write this.

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This is what's always on my mind, why do players and fans have to come up with solutions to problems a 'professional' writer came up with. Just for him to not change a single thing in the next game because why should he? The fans will come up with ideas and solutions to plot holes, toxic behaviour and such - and sometimes even be completely blind for the obvious flaws and problems.

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Also thanks to everyone who adds something to this topic, your words are much appreciated.

Alright, its time for some more feedback from Discord. Please note again that I rephrase some stuff, add something or even remove some stuff that can already be seen in this thread. But if there is an emphasis on a topic already written in here, I will make sure to have it present.

More depth and Thiramin, also *that* Drow scene - thanks to Storm
Feedback
Adding the poly, free love spirit to the "wise mentor" archetype makes Halsin stand out, but he often feels very one-note when it comes to dialogues. He is mostly reduced to being a hot, attractive big buff while he could (and already does sometimes) show so much more of his knowledge/personality/vulnerability. This would not only add more depth but also make the thirst dialogue stick out less than now while he still could maintain his hypersexuality.
As for the Drow scene, the way it is presented and the fact that Halsin only tells about the violence and SA in his past after this (for the only time) reduces the trauma he received to a joke. This is totally wrong.

Suggestion
Show us more of his personality, allow him to share more with us than just his hunger for sexual interactions. When Halsin tells the Tav he doesn't want another person beside Tav, allow the Tav to tell him the same. This could even be added to the game in form of Thiramin, the rite of binding to one's soulmate*. In addition to that, please allow Tav to follow Halsin in the epilogue.
You handled Astarions past and traumas comparably well (a good example of how a writer could show empathy and sensitivity), so handle Halsin's past the same way.

*for more information, you could check https://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/races/elf/leaf.shtml or google it.


Act 1&2 Halsin is lost in Act 3 - thanks to Smrt4ss445
Feedback
By prioritizing a fetish over the actual character, the Halsin from act 3 feels nothing like act 1&2 Halsin - what has once been a wise druid became a complete horndog guided by his dong. He doesn't add anything after act 2. While he might have been a shot to represent poly-forms of relationships, people living these do hardly feel represented by Halsin.

Whats even worse is, that this extends to Shadowheart. Not only does Halsin change heavily, he is even written in a way that he forces himself into a romance between Tav and Shadowheart, making the Tav look like a clown when Shadowheart - out of nowhere - comes up with sexual fantasies about Halsin.
Its even more weird if you find out that both characters got written by the same writer.

Suggestion
Get rid of the major tonal whiplash between acts 1-2 and act 3. Give Halsin an identity and personality traits to stick with from the beginning to the end. Even with character development, you usually don't make a 180° turn in your complete personality.
Stop having Halsin forcing himself into what should have been a monogamous relationship between Shadowheart and Tav. Let Tav decide if they want to include Halsin.


More non-adult romance scenes + let Tav show Halsin love - thanks to Tenshi Kurama
Feedback & Suggestion
Please add more Halsin romance scenes that are not adult sleepy time but more sweet moments throughout act 1 and 2.
Also right now, Halsin seems to think of love as some kind of imprisonment thats chaining him to someone, so love is rather negative to positive to him. There should be a way for the Tav/OC to show Halsin that love can be something wonderful thats even enhancing the life instead of being a prison for his heart.

Someone said that poly people never will be monogamous, but quick search showed that poly-people can have a monogamous relationship if they want to (did someone say character development?). It would be nice to have the Tav/OC help Halsin with his trauma rather than just reducing him even more to the body he has to offer. This could even make up for a good questline that shows how Halsin learns more about love and how it might help him talking about his time of slavery (not in the jokey "3-years-of-SA-misadventure-with-positive-sides-as-I-am-just-a-horny-bear-lol" way but with empathy thats needed on the topic).



Personal note
While I dont think that Halsins & SHs writer is a bad person, trying to make fun of horrible things or just lacking empathy (at least thats what I want to believe), I still feel like there is no improvement when it comes to how to handle topics that are nothing to joke with. The Red Prince already showed a similar destructive behaviour thats now forced on us again in another Larian game.
While I totally get it that trauma, cruelty and violence has its positive sides when it comes to writing. The myriads of threats, twists or psychological questions that come with such topics can enhance a character extremely - if well written. Deciding to pick up those topics always comes with a social responsibility, a responsibility that should always remain present while writing. Given that its not granted that every player's mind is in a stable condition, one has to take precautions and steps to clarify, how wrong such actions are, how they can not only lead to ruining peoples hearts and minds, it can threaten the life itself.
Personally, I don't mind serious topics being added to a game, if its for educational purposes but in Halsin's case, there is a total rejection of the social responsibility coming with it. Looking at Astarion and even other games, clearly it is possible to take a good, healthy approach to sensitive topics.

Also, please forgive my double post.

And we are now adding a new label to Halsin:

Roaching, in some contexts, refers to a slang term used in social and dating situations. It describes a behavior where someone is not being completely honest or transparent about their romantic involvement with others. It often involves individuals who are in non-monogamous or open relationships downplaying the extent of their connections with other partners or hiding the fact that they have multiple partners.

It's essential to have open and honest communication in any relationship, especially when practicing non-monogamy, to ensure that all parties involved are aware and consenting to the relationship dynamics.

Great summary. Did you post it on discord or send it directly to Larian?

I never heard of that, thanks a lot for the addition!


I collect the feedback from Discord that otherwise seems to get lost and I post it here as well as - if I have collected enough - submit via direct feedback.