Hello, I am new here, I took this thread as an incentive to contribute because there is something I wanted to get off my chest in a place, where maybe someone involved would read it: I enjoyed Gale's Origin immensely!
In general, it ups the stakes a little (or at least, it makes you feel like it does), shifts the focus of Gale's plot in Act 2, adds some interesting moments of reflection to ruminate over, gives you some more insight into Mystra's reasoning and the very satisfying ending, which I was missing in his companion quest. I was playing him as good / neutral: The full bleeding heart towards children and the unfortunate but with some tactical savagery when dealing with enemies - he is after all, a very good lanceboard player. I had him romance Astarion, which worked very well. I feel Gale and Astarion are such polar opposites that the themes they'd normally deal with in their own quest-lines are pretty well covered by the romance-arc of the other, just from a different angle.
But first things first: I really don't like blank slate custom characters in video games. They generally tend to feel a little blander to me, than those with their own story. I also like the opportunity to put myself in an existing character's head space. So for my for my first play-through I picked Astarion's Origin, as the internet had already well and truly spoilered me about his quest and I like playing rogues anyway. (It was really all my own fault: Didn't want to buy the game at first, got entranced by the immersive sim aspects of it all and had already watched way too many videos by this point.)
So, Astarion Origin:I agree with what was already said about this. Though I'd like to add that I think its biggest issues are that it is not particularly well paced and it is extremely easy to simply miss his cut scenes - or vital information.
You can miss the deal with Raphael easily by not instantly jumping to the option when it appears during the dialogue in front of the mausoleum - and then you better hope your last save-spot isn't Last Light.
I also have the feeling that Astarion has most of the chatty reactions to Tav-Comments and I think, that's why his Origin feels very silent. (When running around with Origin-Gale, it was mostly Astarion quipping along with Gale's PC observations hence the thought.) What also bothered me in relation to the spoiler above, was ...
that I didn't have the option to talk with anyone else about the scars. Yes, Companion-Astarion is very secretive about them but when I am playing the character, I think I should have some degree of autonomy about whom my character trusts with his secrets - and with a wizard boyfriend and Karlach as a besti, these two would have been quite good options to at least address the topic with .... Which is especially odd since during Shadowheart's wine scene, you are given an opportunity to open up about Astarion's past.
What I did really like about this play-through though, was Gale. He quickly became my favourite character, which surprised me, since I hadn't heard much about him before.
In general I like that his is a romantic story (in the literary sense) which works on more than one layer. He is in love with Mystra, yes, but he is also in love with magic itself and seen from this angle his story becomes one about being so dedicated to one's craft that it eats you up. He is beautifully written and performed and I find it refreshing that he often uses humour to mask his discomfort. (I made the poor man sneak so very often.) He's a refreshing contrast to the other beach gremlins.
In relation to Astarion, I liked that the wizard helped me feel not quite so alone with the character development, since ...
Gale's romance explores none physical forms of intimacy and the guy is almost painfully sincere in his affection. (Also, he is well cast in the role of the lonely, powerful fool to wrap around your finger for protection only to have him pull the rug from under your feet. ^^; Sorry, Gale.)
Also Gale kindly replaced some missing plot beats. For example is Astarion's Origin missing the whole Araj situation. There is no Tav who could make him drink from Araj or respect his decision because in this reality Astarion is Tav. So the whole bit about him reflecting about not wanting to be used as a pretty body is missing as a plot point, it just never comes up.
When romancing Gale, there is a moment after a fight in the shadows when he comes up to the pc and tells them (I paraphrase) that their battle prowess and facing dangers at their side makes them only more desirable. For me, this worked extremely well for Astarion (to the point that I wondered if it had been made for him) because it appreciates the pc's fighting skills and treats the body as an instrument of the pc's own agency rather than a thing to be ogled and used by others. It's not quite the same as the Araj situation, but it might inspire similar thoughts.
Since I already gave a brief summary above, I'll simply put the rest under the spoiler tag.
While Origin-Astarion has to deal with most of his stuff on his own, Origin-Gale gets Tara, his beloved Tressym, to be his emotional support and provide some background information. Tara is a darling and I miss her dearly when in another save, as her and Gale's interactions are adorable. She also offers the much needed resistance against Mystra's command during Act 2, should you wish to really commit yourself to roleplaying the whole suicide angle. I loved that.
Another detail I loved was, that they made Gale's condition actually a little bit painful. In his Companion version, you usually have assembled some useless items by the time Gale's condition requires treatment, in his Origin, it strikes after the first Long Rest. Luckily, your good friend Tara has brought you a very nice (and very rare) ring the night before, an actually useful one. Since you usually don't have many magical items at this point in the game and the ones you have, are all rather nice, it's for once not such a trivial matter to destroy one, which makes his situation in relation feel more server.
What impressed me most though, was Act2 in general. In the Companion-Version, whenever the orb and the explosion come up, it is generally discussed in the context of Gale's sacrifice and the explosion radius. In the Origin-Version, you are encouraged to carefully think through your decision. This turns the whole affair into a detective story in which you try to find out more about the Absolute and have to draw conclusions about the effect Gale's explosion could have in the grander scheme of things. It is such a perfect roleplay incentive for an int based character. Apart from this, you are presented with several small moments in which to reflect about Gale's position, thoughts and feelings. For example, when Gale goes to bedroll after Astarion's little "let's take over the cult" bit, the narrator prompts you to think about what might wait at Moonrise and applies some of Astarion's ideas to Gale's situation. It's a beautiful rendition of manipulation working on a troubled mind. Loved it.
As with Astarion's Origin, you are left a little bit alone in regards to dealing with your character's own troubles. In an ordinary game, Gale has Tav's friendship or love that pulls him from the edge. In his Origin, Gale has Tara who does not want him to explode, while everyone else is caught up in their own affairs. It is very bleak, but nicely reflects the extremely depressed state he is in as a companion - and made the moment, when Astarion makes his confession especially impactful.
Romancing Astarion in general worked insanely well for Gale's Origin (and vice versa), because both stories not only deal with the same larger theme, but follow the same pace. For example, in Act 1 Gale sees his only worth in his magical power while yearning for connection, so Astarion exploiting him for this power while faking connection, is a good fit. At the beginning of Act 2 it's kind of nice to have someone - apart from one's cat - who is also invested in maybe not blowing the Absolute up ... I could go on but this text is already way too long. I am just adding this because I am not sure, if I had been as happy with the play-through, if I had romanced anyone else.
There are some inconsistencies, for example you can invite Astarion to drink your blood, which shouldn't be an option because Gale's blood is poisonous and while Aunti Ethel complains about the Netherese magic surrounding the tadpole, the Netherese magic in the rest of the wizard does not seem to bother her, but oh well, it was still great fun.
As with Astarion you loose a lot of the voice acting, which is a shame, really, since I love Gale's input. In general I wish that Origin characters would remain included in the party banter even if they are your Avatar. I love listening to those weirdo's argue and especially Gale and Lae'zel have some really sweet conversations. They helped endearing Lae'zel to me, as Gale's openminded attitude allows her to show a different side of herself.
My biggest gripe with both Spawnstarion and Gale's Origin is that you cannot save Karlach though. Those nasty rays of sun and that impatient goddess! Really Mystra, you could have waited two more minutes...
And with that: Thank you for reading my novel. ^^ I started a Durge too, but don't really have an opinion on it yet. Also I don't really feel the connection to the character.
