Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin Romance, Expectations and Obligatory Poly

But they can easily go for small changes without recording VO and new writing. Like I don't think adding extra option in Halsin's epilogue to stay with him for romancers is that hard of a thing. And change some flags for banter/dialogues to occur. That already would make situation much better for Halsin enjoyers(and SH enjoyers too).

Most people throw up reviews far before they finish a game, and act 1 is still by far the best experience the game has to offer. We both do agree the game as a whole is great anyway, though, don't get me wrong.

I understand why they did it, but you also have to look at the negative consequences of such a move. They sold goodwill for a few quick bucks, that's a fact. Like I said it's incredibly small scale, and won't matter whatsoever as a standalone incident. But I've seen what this does on a larger scale. Just look at Activision Blizzard. They've been selling goodwill for years now and ran out, and their sales plummeted with it. Now they're bought up by Microsoft, with the deal finalized two weeks ago.

Majority of the game is good. Shadowheart and Astarion are perfectly fine ignoring these few (mostly skippable if you don't bring Halsin) inconsistencies which in the larger picture are absolutely nothing compared to the rest of their stories. And while it tends to only take one rotten apple to spoil the bunch, one can live with it. Halsin got ruined, however, and he got ruined because of feedback being used as an indicator that he's popular and then translated that into a marketing campaign. That's not a good look.

Bugs are a big part of it. But companions turn into hirelings in act 3 - they have more to say about you kissing a goblin's foot in act 1 than they have about multiple massive questlines in act 3 combined. That's not bugs, that's just lack of time to write more, or care to do so.

Same person/team of people (I doubt he's doing it all alone) that wrote Shadowheart also wrote Halsin. The same Shadowheart that people currently can't comfort at all during her final cutscene (or ever) even when romanced and who has absolutely no dialogue remaining after that cutscene - nothing. Her story ending is miserable because it's a bittersweet ending with no positive outlook unless you romanced her where you at least get a couple of lines of dialogue in the epilogue stating that together you'll get over it. So all I can imagine is a world where they spent the time ruining Halsin (and adding a few inconsistencies to Shadowheart and Astarion in the process) on finishing her story up proper instead.

I would say this (and I will probably repeat myself and other comments here, but still): the famous "bear scene" showed us that since Halsin is a druid and shapeshifts into a bear, it is kind of expected such thing can be in the game. Plus, his accidental change is logical, as it was said earlier: Halsin had no private life for a centure and it is normal to get too arosed and let your passion out. What this scene didn't tell us is that Halsin would be very thirsty towards companions and this is messed up. I'm not sure when it was announced that Halsin is polygamous character (I was not reading all news and articles about the game, just some general ingormation) but yet again being thirtsty towards companions cannot be called a representation of polygamy - Halsin just "wants" companions for sex.
People knew about bear sex before release, people knew about poly scenario before release (as far as I understand), some probably didn't like it but at least these themes could be avoided. But people had zero expectations Halsin whom they have seen in EA (an ultimate good guy, adult, responsible, etc.) would turn into an embodiment of fetishes and not a good writing.
Yes, we do understand Larian people have all rights to not change anything (it will be sad, on one hand, but it is expected in a way on the other) but we also want to express our thoughts and feelings. Many of us don't want Halsin to be comepletely changes. All we want are some slight additions (epoligue for sure, especially for those who romance Halsin) and fixes for Halsin/SH/Astarion (maybe) interactions. This is, imo, the necessary minimum of what could be done. The maximum, of course, is adding extra dialogues/quests in Act 3, turning down Halsin's thirst in Act 3 at least a little bit, maybe something to do with his past in the Underdark, etc.

I'm one of those people, and if I like whatever Larian comes up with for their next title, I'll return for the next EA. They actually did a pretty good job of listening to my feedback! Of course I'm not sure if they ever saw a word of my posts, but the vast majority of problems I had ended up being addressed. Yes, the implementation was lacking in some areas, but I'm not terribly disappointed. In general, this is a very enjoyable game.

This is a very enjoyable game. If you don't start a relationship with companions. Alone wolf, optional affair with Mizora or an incubus or in a brothel. Just entertainment without a relationship. If anything, they should have limited themselves to that. Romance is the worst part this game. I could not finish the 3rd part in any way, the affair with Halsin upset me so much. I know about polyamory, but I considered it will be optional, not forcibly offensive.
Now I have new games without romance or romance with the Emperor and yes now the game is really enjoyable.
Most people don't like being dumped, or when something bad happens to their partners.
Why these absolutely obvious things need to be explained.

I was told the romance as a whole was a last minute addition to the game.

Take that as you will. Seems to me a lot is explained away as "Oh it was a last mnute thing"

Same! I had a lot of fun during EA and love the rest of the game even if my Halsin EA feedback didn’t work out. I am still hoping they might add a sweet option for the romance for those who want it!

This definitely isn't true. Some of them were tweaked quite a lot late in the process, though.

As a fan of old school BioWare games, romancing companions is something I really enjoy and look forward to. Larian has made some huge strides in that department compared to what we got in DOS2; it'll be interesting to see where they go next.

Keeping my fingers crossed for Halsin tweaks then. I want the druid I was led to believe he was.

That's good to hear, I'm glad the majority of it was well received. After all, sometimes the dedicated customer does know best! And having a whole lot of unpaid playtesters should still be considered a blessing, not a given, as things weren't always this way.


I like the addition of romance to RPGs. It ups the stakes. You're not just going through the story for your own sake anymore, you're doing it for your sakes together. You also start caring more for that person since there's something more at the end of the tunnel. It's no longer just 'we work together because of circumstances'; you're fighting together for more now. Until they out of the blue tell you they don't believe in relationships and dump you at the end of the game, and you feel miserable because it all led up to that. Which is exactly what happens with Halsin.

I think most romances were well implemented for what we have but if all of them were relatively late additions that is somewhat noticeable because they all lack in content. What's there is good (except Halsin), but there could - should - be more. I love some of the romance specific dialogues etc., it really makes me feel more invested.

Idk man act 1 and 2 Halsin was pretty GOAT inspite of the lack of content. I was really getting into the longing and anticipation that was building up on my end. More content is always welcome of course but I really think they can do something with that if they have a lot of limitations.

Ye I meant for the official romance (so act 3), not just the buildup. Though you're right, the buildup is obviously a big part of it as well, and that was well done even in Halsin's case.

Yes, a romantic option in RPG gives you something like a stimulation to go on, go further. Humans are social animals, after all and many of us want to love and be loved (even by fictional characters).

I think the flirting could be less outrageous on the player side. Some of it is actually just pushy compared to his demeanor in Act 1 and 2. Probably the weirdest (altho very funny) is a duegar asking

Does anybody here know if Patch 4 is coming out any time soon? Maybe we'll see some changes to Halsin, I've been holding off my dark urge "bone Minthara" run for too long man

No idea and no news or hints about it. Probably they are working on something big with this patch.

Endings perhaps? Yes yes yes, gimme my farm Shart ending

Yeah, I remember when people started talking about the farm epilogue, all I could think about was the build a house theme from rdr2 haha. I don't know if we'll get it, seems like it'd be a hassle to bring back the VA for it and the epilogue has bigger issues. I really hope they flesh out Act 3 more as a whole eventually, i dedicated way too much time to this game just to get 3 measly lines of dialogue at the end

Haven't they brought them back already? I've seen post month or even more ago.

Yes. Any extension of the epilogue (and potential bonus content/companion replies for act 3) that isn't just a massive wall of text will naturally require all companion VAs to return. And if I had to make a very optimistic guess, I think we'll get an Elfsong party where you can have a chat with them.