Firstly: Halsin
No, this is not another discussion about his behavior in act 3, but about his abilities as a druid (it might bleed in a bit in act 3, since THAT scene, we all saw in the PfH, showcase it a bit too). The guy stayed a bear and waited to be rescued by the tadpole gang, while he had the ability to turn into a mouse and just vanished through one of the many crevices at any time. So why did he play the damsel in distress? To me, it looks, like he isn't always in control of his wildshapes like other druids are. The infamous bear scene showcases that too.
Plus he could have gotten out much sooner from the goblin camp, since he seemed to know, that things are not good at the grove. All that makes him look a bit incompetent to be honest.
Yes, I think Halsin doesn't have full control of his wildshape ability. I'm sure if you recruit him he has all the wildshape options, but I didn't and so in my head-cannon he only does bear; and not always deliberately.
If you want to be mean, intelligence is his dump stat...
Gortash and plot reveal
If you don't go through the game blindly, you find a lot of notes between Ketheric and Gortash in Moonrise Tower, detailing their whole plan with the Elder Brain. So why do our characters make surprised Pikachu faces, when he and the plan of the three Stooges is revealed at the end of act 2? I was also a bit sad, that Karlach had nothing to say to those letters concerning Gortash and his involvment. I know, she and Wyll got pretty much sidelined, but still, at least the last scene should play out differently, if you find the letters and already know everything. I think, even Orin isn't a surprise, if you save Minthara in Moonrise, since she tells you about her recruitment, if I remember correctly.
Other people have said that sometimes characters react as you read books, but before that I was thinking of another incident. In act 3, where Orin
keeps taking the form of random NPCs to taunt you, I think I'd just got used to it and she'd also probably stopped doing it. I'd left Lae'zel in camp to try out this new Jaheira I'd just recruited, but I popped back to camp to swap a few items over, and chatted to Lae'zel briefly. A couple of minutes after leaving camp, Lae'zel appears in front of me, talking about how the threat we face is so bad we should just give up or something. I was like "Oh, hello Orin!" but that can't appear as a speech option because it would give it away.
Also, do we at that point know that Gortash has taken his new position? It's not unreasonable that the characters don't know who he is yet and/or don't put enough significance into his part of the plan.
Meeting again in the city
Why can't I have those promised drinks with the saved halfling lady from Ethels lair, Rugan, Lakrissa and Beks and her husband? I was looking forward to it, but instead, you have to most likely kill Rugan, if you go a certain route and want to recruit a certain person, the halfling lady barely recognises you and only Beks and Dannis and Lakrissa acknowledge you.
It would have been nice to just have some happy reunions there. It's nice to see some of the kids again and Gandrel (though his story is heartbreaking, poor guy), Alfira and Lakrissa, Rolan and siblings and of course our best friend Barcus, but still, I would have loved more interactions.
I only really remember the halfling from Ethel's Lair, Alfira and Lakrissa. The halfling seemed to recognise me as much as I'd expect given that she was presumably not fully aware of what was happening until the end. Did you save Mayrina in act 1 and then complete the mission in act 3 too? They were all pretty grateful then, although they don't have a
lot of dialogue. Alfira and Lakrissa, yeah, love them. Although it glitched a little and played their conversations in the wrong order because I didn't go onto the roof early enough. So I chatted to the two of them together first, before later Alfira was alone and acted like I'd only just arrived.
