also, i dont think there is a reason to soften his animations. the animations are great, they show a different side of him which is totally different from UA, this is why we play with AA instead of UA. the difference is what makes this better. would i want to have more kisses and different animations for all companions? sure, but like i said, this is not a dating sim and we are talking about astarion here.
This whole ‘this is not a dating sim’ is sort of a bad faith argument imo since adding hugs / kisses / sex scenes are not needed for a roleplaying game. If you add in relationships, then yes - people will get invested in them as part of their story. Many people have had these facial expressions in the Patch 6 kisses cited as ‘proof’ their interpretation is correct or incorrect. The Patch 6 kiss changed resulted in a lot of vitriol directed at certain subsets of fans. So, again it’s disingenuous imo to write off these concerns as ‘this isn’t a dating sim.’
The reason people are bringing up other companions is because imo it is unfair to only provide Astarion this level of treatment. Every other romantic path includes a smiling Tav/PC with their love interest kisses - no matter their alignment. People are asking for this path to be changed again because they want to support their narrative reading (typically noncon/ ‘abusive’) of this path.
You have multiple times and opportunities to break up with AA if you are unhappy with the dynamic, so I think adding additional flags for facial expressions is the wrong move - especially if they lock you into selecting certain dialogue options (which will limit roleplaying).
This will be my last response since I doubt we will come to an understanding, but I would implore Larian to not change the facial expression since they are the most neutral ones out of any kisses in the game.
Last edited by SpookyBookey; 12/09/2404:23 PM. Reason: grammar
