First of all: This is a summary of the feedback I read about Halsin on Discord lately as well as partially my own feedback. As someone on Discord said, it would be good to carry some of this over to the forums because it will disappear from Discord after a short period of time.

Please note that the purpose of this topic is by no means meant to be offensive against any fan of the game, the character or Larian as well as no offense against any Larian staff member itself. I just want this to be a place to discuss the topics that came from the players.

And now, lets hop in:

From everything you can see for yourself in the game or gather from other players experiences, Halsin has been a beloved character since his introduction in EA and while I am sure that there were some thirst posts about him, the majority of the players seemed to be interested in the lovely, humble and caring personality that Halsin has to offer. With the full release, things got shaken up a bit, mainly because of the way his personality changes throughout the game. Especially if you consider the fans wish to have him as a companion it was a bit of a disappointment that it takes at least 1 and a half act for him to actually join (well, still better than Minsc).
But, let me use this point to thank Larian Studios for listening to the fans wishes for Halsin to become a companion.


Different personalities
Feedback:
As I already said, Halsin shows different kind of personalities. The greater part of his personality feels like a young man, always looking for physical pleasures, constantly having a sexualized undertone in this sentences. At the same time, he is really romantic and sweet, but that leads to the PC feeling more like he uses romantic talk just to get into your pants (again).
You could think that he takes a turn with the romance scene after the Shadowlands, as we seem to have touched his heart ("I have taken many lovers. My heart does not stir lightly. But it does now."). You get the feeling that he wants you to be more than just a lover, but then a short time after, he wants both of us to "seek happiness, wherever it lies.". But then again, he tells us "You are all I want...". I don't know, this feels a bit like Halsin is pushing the PC to seek more physical adventures or maybe even to build a harem that he is part of.

If you want him as a side-option just to spice things up, this is pretty good and well made. I think his lines are not bad and make sense if you have a polygamous approach (I cant really evaluate that as I am not familiar with polygamous ways - please feel free to add to my knowledge or correct me) to Halsin. But if you want him in a monogamous way, you get pushed away constantly, no matter what efforts you take.

I admit that he told the PC that he hopes that what we share with him is not a relationship but "more fluid" and by that, he clearly stated that he doesnt want a relationship, but in that case, we might want to ask Larian, why it is still possible to romance Halsin without even having another relationship, if he was intended just to be a hot side-kick.

Suggestion:
There are several ways to approach this:
If you dont want to change the way Halsin is, you should consider just adding him as a side-kick to an existing relationship with another companion, so he could just spice things up, have some fun and leave.

If you want him to offer a good mono romance to the PC, you should consider adding another romance path with some additional lines. After all the troubles we faced in the Shadowlands and Thaniel, he realizes that we are far more for him than just a usual lover. Its a new experience for him and its takes some time for him to understand his feelings for us. It would be nice to see him evolving and opening up his heart to the PC and seeing him less sexualizing the conversations. Would be nice to push the intimate scene back a bit and him being nervous about it (first time with the person he fell in love with). *
By that, you could allow both groups of players (those who want him for pleasure and those who want a relationship) are satisfied, without the need of changing Halsin a lot.

*) I get that you need to speed up the pace a bit, as Halsin joins kinda late into the game. This leads us to..

Halsin joins the party too late
Feedback:
As I said before, it takes at least 1 and a half acts for him to join the party, although he is already with us at the end of act 1.

Suggestion:
Have him join us right after the party with the Tieflings, so we can play with him earlier, do some fights with him, raising his approval slowly but steady and allow the relationship to grow slowly. He could also temporarily leave the party for the quests at the Last Light Inn and re-joins us later. This would totally make sense and the first intimate scene could still stay like it is, just that we dont get naked at the first opportunity.

Halsins trauma
Feedback:
I dont want to go too much into detail with this one, so let me just summarize. Halsin has experienced SA, something, that feels way too real for players who share a similar history. While it can work to add topics like this (if you handle it well, with all the respect needed and with a closure to it), the way it was handled in the game was really bad. Not only does he kinda glorify his experience, its also the timing of him telling us his story thats totally bad - right after we had the night with the Drows, he told us that he it reminded him of his "youthful misadventures", which turn out to be 3 years of slavery and SA. Calling this misadvantures (plus saying it had positive aspects) is just bad and disrespectful - but I dont think this was Larians intention.
Fortunately, I have never been a victim of such cruels myself, so I would like to add this link to another thread for more explanation:
Thread by Lyricus

Suggestion:
You should either remove this scene and background story or - and this is the better way to handle it - speak to professionals who have deep knowledge about those crimes and especially how victims feel and rework this part of Halsin to better fit that. Handle the situation with respect and empathy.

Missing romance questline
Feedback:
Maybe Halsin feels rushed and reduced to just being a over-sexualized man because he lacks his own romance questline. Of course, he is very much engaged in the mainstory, but from what people say, they would like to see even a small romance quest added, to deeper the bonds between us and Halsin and maybe use that quest(s) to allow us to decide on a monogamous or polygamous way.

Suggestion:
This is up to Larian's creativity (and there is plenty of it) how you want to add that.

Halsins background and behaviour
Feedback:
This is not about the sexual aspect of the char - I already explained earlier whats wrong with that.
People would like to know more about him, he is mostly silent (beside the information given within the mainstory) in later stages of the game (beside the obvious sexual themes). As someone said, he feels like a mod in act 3, standing around, using the same few voice lines until you get to the end, where he offers not really anything - you cant even choose to come with him.
The only things he seem to care about (and that would make up for a good side or romance quest) is the destiny of the poor and orphans in Rivington.
While being at the camp/inn, he is (same as all other companions) silent and just stands there.

Suggestion:
Add more voice lines about his past (from what I read, there are several cut voicelines), as long as they are not just more sexual content but more about his story, his life, his likes and dislikes (especially in act 3. Have him telling us what exactly he dislikes about the city, how he feels, what he wishes to happen and such).
Also, it would be nice to have more interactivity at the camp/inn. Let them move around more, have him interact more with the nature and animals or children (if you have some at the camp) or let him sit at the fire while carving wood. This could also make up for a nice gift he gives us in the end.

The ending is somewhat disappointing
Feedback:
If you have him as a side-kick or just a lover, the ending is pretty solid, you choose to part you ways with the option to visit him for more 'action'.
But if you want him in a monogamous relationship, its exhausting to just being forced another time to not be with him.

Suggestion:
Add a choice for us to go with him. Lets be clear: The perfect ending if you want to follow him is already there: He desperately needs helping hands for the orphans and the poors he wants to take care of, so why cant we be the one to join him? In the end, it should be the players choice to decide whether to follow him or not. He could have a family with us, even with just one or two orphans as children instead of biological children or even both or w/e. I am sure Larian can come up with some good ideas. Halsin said that he regrets never having his own family. Well, there it is.


Of course, I dont know what parts of this thread is even doable for the Devs, but if its about the financial part of it, I am sure that fans are happy to spend a few bucks for DLCs or even donate for changes to happen.

Thanks for your time and sorry for the wall of text.