I have my grievances with act 3, but there is a lot, I like, too. I mean House of Hope is great, Ethel is great, the underwater prison quest I like, Jaheiras quest to get Minsc (and having Jaheira as a companion) - stuff like that.
Absolutely, there are some really great sections in Act 3 the main problem is the framing around Orin/Gortash and Emperor/Orpheus which creates this confused narrative and pacing which then leads us to an ending that feels incredibly nonsensical and railroaded.
I think if this is fixed then it would make all the other things just much better because its not... as rushed and confused as before.
I edited my post but basically my point is that we need a path.
We confront Gortash at the Wrym's crossing. He sets us up against Orin whom kidnaps our romantic interest, Gortash can perhaps take Ketheric's Netherese Crystal in exchange to help us and while he has two crystals maintaining control over the brain (which makes way more sense) we go for Orin.
Like maybe we enter through the sewers rather than the front gate and are motivated to get our loved one back asap. If we are the DU we get even more reveals, we have an extra romance moment with our loved interest when we save them and then we can explore the city.
Gortash will not be at Wrym's cross but the upper city. Maybe a palace area for a big boss confrontation. Since he has both crystals and is in control of the brain (at least we think) it gives us a chance to deal with other people's problems while Gortash has made it clear to us that we can perhaps join him. He can't control all three crystals and needs a partner. Again with DU this has even more added benefit!
I think this makes more sense and is more thematic than just throwing us into the city and telling us we have different things we need to rush or its GG but really its not.
You have this massive sense of urgency, but also a bunch of side quests scattered around, and some of the best clothing, equipment, and generally cool stuff that you’ve seen through the whole game. So it seems like it wants you to rush to the end, yet there’s all kinds of things to incentivize you to not do that. So that’s been confusing.
Don't rush. Florrick's thing is the only one that has a timer, from my own experience.
Thats the issue though, its not the story but meta knowledge that is dictating. It totally breaks immersion... its like I am exploiting the game rather than following the story that the Dungeon Master is trying to tell.
