That's kinda the thing for me though. Even if they massively rewrote the scene to narratively fit the scope of the game and the character, I would still not be in favor of Minthara trying to break up with the Dark Urge in any shape or form.

At best the only compromise I would be completely alright with is her potentially questioning our decision and lecturing us about it depending on how deep our bond is, as she has been doing so throughout the whole game when we make decisions which she does not entirely agree with. This I can totally see happening and would even welcome, as it would give us an opportunity to explore her way of thinking even further (this is even mentioned in my raw feedback post to have her react to Dark Urge's fate).

But breaking up over a personal quest regarding our own eternal fate, after everything we did for her? Just no.

It's an undeserved and unjustified ultimatum because as if it wasn't punishment enough having to already lose all of this massive content early-on, they'd want to also punish us with potentially losing our love interest during the game's final hours? I'm sorry, but I can't stand for that at all. It's unfair, it's disrespectful to the player's invested time into the character and to me personally sickening to the point that if she ever were to try to break up I would never again have her in my party.

Minthara as an apostate of both Lolth and the Absolute, describes herself word-for-word as an exact reflection of a redeemed Dark Urge, both being treated as mere weapons by these gods and wanting to do nothing with Bhaal after the fact... she has no legitimate reason whatsoever to throw a tantrum and break up over something she is against and has absolutely no influence on because it makes her come off as an extremely toxic, ungrateful and hypocritical love interest otherwise. Especially after everything the player has done for her by saving her life not once, not twice, but three times.

There are simply thousands of inconsistencies across the board regarding even the slightest hint of wanting to break up (both before, during and after the Bhaal choice), not just in ACT III either but in ACT II to ACT I as well.

Not to mention that one of the offered reasons to reject Bhaal is literally tied to her wanting us to protect her;

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

  • Minthara (if romanced during ACT I) is only alive because we resisted our Urge (had she been romanceable in early ACT II, she'd would also be alive there once again only because we yet again resist our Urge)
  • In ACT II she is only alive because we go out of our own way to save her and even provide shelter to her, despite everyone else questioning that decision.
  • And in ACT III she is only alive because we fight Orin on her behalf, instead of her doing it herself or us doing it together (also mentioned in my raw feedback post).

So after the Dark Urge went out of their own way to save her, kept doing all the legwork, saving her life three times and looking out for her own best interests by ensuring this psychopath family can't threaten her anymore, she would have the audacity to break up with Dark Urge for doing the exact same thing she did to Lolth and the Absolute and even Bhaal? I'm sorry, but I will never be okay with that.

Regardless of whatever reasoning we might come up with here, even if lets say there was a legitimate concern for her to do so, it would make her an extremely petty character to try to break up after everything we went through as a couple, especially after she uses the term 'alurlssrin'. That's a hard founded fact unfortunately because people who truly love each other solve their issues, they do not dish out ultimatums.

I personally am of belief that this scene is simply not intended to be in the game at all and I will be the happiest Dark Urge in the world when that turns out to be true, because I tested absolutely every single scenario possible regarding this scene and she does not react whatsoever to the player being enslaved by Bhaal (if they fail the duel) or accepting Bhaal. The fact that she's okay with us being forced into servitude just like she was, but not okay with us willingly refusing to do so says all there is to know about it, especially when she herself is an exact reflection of a redeemed Dark Urge.

I cannot even begin to conceptualize an idea why this scene is in the game, but considering the facts that; it isn't even mentioned in the patch notes, directly contradicts her immediate pop-up dialogue as soon as Orin is dead, awfully breaks her story and character consistency, takes away her unrelated content afterwards and does not have any reaction if the Dark Urge is enslaved by Bhaal or even accepts Bhaal... simply tells me this scene is yet another horrible bug due to lack of any quality control regarding her character.

What sucks and bothers me is that Minthara players have to eternally suffer through bugs and blockers while being treated as mere guinea pigs to playtest the game, waiting months for things to 'potentially' get addressed and forced to sit in the corner expected to be grateful about this mistreatment... when all we want is to just play the game, enjoy it and have the time of our lives like every other player does with any other companion. Something that a single patch entirely focusing on fixing Minthara would solve in an instant.

But I am no longer welcome on these forums to speak openly about these issues, so I'll just say I enjoyed our discussions here and also apologize to everyone here for my own Urges. You and the people in this thread are a wonderful reminder of how fascinatingly constructive and passionate valuable discussions used to be on this forum during Early Access. Not surprising because Minthara is still stuck in Early Access grin