Originally Posted by KillerRabbit
I think Leurcotta is on to something although I have slightly different take on it.

The Balduran plot is under developed. At the point of the reveal - Balduran goes from founder of the city to the evil mastermind of diabolic criminal organization. This is confirmation point. If players are on the path to become a mind flayer they can adopt the emperor's POV "I'm sorry you were put in this situation" or the scales can fall from their eyes and they can realize that the Emperor isn't like Omelleum at all. He's fully a fully evil character who has been manipulating you from the start.

Our guardian literally killed the guardian of the city, it corrupted the government and the moral justification it claims - I only fed on criminals - doesn't pass the laugh test because it ran a criminal organization. How many of the people you fed on were people you led into a life of crime? Recruit em and consume them once they get caught - efficient and so very evil.

The reveal moment should be pregnant with possibility but isn't - only the becoming a mind flayer path is well supported "I'm so sorry you were put in that situation" Yes Guardian I agree with you: clearly Ansur was a victim of xenophobia and wanted to kill you because they can't accept tentacles and silver blood. I believe this despite the fact that Ansur was a dragon, a non humanoid species that had no reason to identify with humanoid norms.

Yet the Tav who sees through the Emperor's lies gets shitty lines "oh you're definitely sick" Because, you know, the only reason to dislike the Emperor is xenophobia.


Not: "can't you see how far you've fallen? You disguised yourself in a form that pantomimed Ansur's own but you act nothing like him. Your claims to act morally are contradicted by your actions. You have lost everything that made you you. You are no longer a hero, you have become soulless monster that leaves a trail of bodies in your wake. You told me there was nothing to find down here but I have found something - I've found my resolve, this is why I will never stop searching for cure. I will not lose my soul.

At some point Larian decided that becoming a mind flayer was the main path and avoiding soul destruction became a poorly supported alternative. And, as the OP indicates, this happened when they deleted Daisy.
That change happened when they deleted Daisy, but I don't necessarily agree that becoming a mind flayer is the main intended path. It seems to me that rather, allying with the Emperor is the intended path - supported by your observation that not doing this is underdeveloped - by which you avoid becoming a mind flayer. The problem with this is that it runs contrary to what should happen. If you ally with the Emperor, then you're more likely to have used more tadpoles and consequently closer to becoming a mind flayer. You're also less likely to have a problem with it.

If anything, it seems that they were determined to deny everyone a satisfying ending with no existentially relevant downsides from the viewpoint of your PC. Which is exactly what they did in DOS2, and in Ego Draconis (that one stands out even by Larian standards). And probably in more games, only I haven't played them to their endings.

Last edited by Ieldra2; 17/10/23 05:24 PM.