I have lots to say on this topic but I'll be brief since there is a good chance that another forum timeout will eat my comments.
The problem is this: Larian's own stats show that people want to play as a Tav or Durge and not as an origin character - but the Origin character stories are much better developed than Tav's. This is why people are happy to discuss the companion stories but less interested in the main plot. Tav's story is deeply flawed while the stories of Gale, Shadowheart and Astarian are well developed.
That's why - when people talk about their Tav they focus on it's cosmetic features, not their personal journey, relationship to some archetype ect.
The failure of the Tav's story shows up:
In the moment when Orpheus is released from his bonds. This should be a great moment - Tav cuts the strings, the puppet master has been defeated, you are no longer dependent on the evil entity that has been manipulating you - but it's deeply flawed because:
a) the manipulator gets the good lines and Tav just sits there like a submissive, obedient, tongue-tied idiot
b) the victory is immediately taken away for reasons that don't satisfy.
"Thanks for freeing me but your efforts were in vain, someone needs to become a mindflayer because: thing"
Great job Larian, way to use the Lore. Netherese = big. It means powerful. It's ultra, maaan. It's an ultrabrain and stuff. Ultrabrains need mindflayers, everyone knows this
Tav only has two endings (yes Gale has a third but Tav can only get by using an exploit) The fact that the game only has two endings - do you destroy the brain or dominate it - is clear to most players but the Larian CEO seems be oblivious to this fact. The other choices - which mindflayer did you take with you, is Lae'zel happy or angry - are cosmetic.
It's a railroad - you are going to end the game with a mindflayer.
Okay, fine, the devs have made it clear that they were always going for the Jesus archetype. Do you sacrifice yourself for the world? But Tav's decision didn't feel tragic in the way that Gale's did. There's nothing leading up to it. Some deux ex machina determines that Tav needs a mindflayer.
Gale, on the other hand, gets to decide if he is going to destroy his body to save the world. And that decision? Gale's penultimate decision? That feels tragic, that's lore consistent, we have good foreshadowing for that moment.. In Gale's story Netherese means something more than "ultra" - the Netherese crown can only be countered by an equally powerful Netherese artifact - in Gale's story Netherese is not reduced to "big" In his story "Netherbrain" doesn't feel like some deux ex machina summoned by the devs.
But I don't want to play Gale's story. Or Lae'zel's. I want Tav to be presented with meaningful choices.
And that's what's missing from the end game: meaningful choices.
(i guess that wasn't that brief, was it? Let's see if it posts . . . )
