I haven't pursued a romance with Shadowheart, nor have I brought Halsin into act 3, so I don't know what you're actually talking about. The most I got is Shadowheart commenting that Halsin is nice to look at.
I'm gathering that part of it is that although you've turned down Halsin, you've found Halsin and Shadowheart talking about him joining you? If so, I'd agree that's probably inappropriate (probably because I haven't seen the details for myself) and I'd support that being changed. Now, when something happens in a video game that seems 'wrong', I tend to take one of two views. I can interpret it as a bug and ignore it, or I take it absolutely literally and use it to build my interpretation of the world (the real world isn't always predictable).
But if the point is that early in the game Shadowheart says she prefers monogamy, and then later on she tells you she's interested in polygamy, then I don't see any problem with it from a character design perspective. Part of the point of the companions is that you don't know everything about them. They all have secrets that they keep from you at the start of the game, so maybe she just didn't want to talk about it then. Or maybe her preferences changed over time: Extra Credits did a video talking about how much more interesting it would make a game if an NPC could start a relationship with either the player or another NPC:
If this really affects you, I'd suggest having a think about why. I had something kind of similar in my earlier game: I was playing a shy, awkward character with a story arc about her gaining in confidence as people start turning to her as a hero. It was clear that she was a good match for Wyll, and late in act 2 he asked to dance with her. Then, the option to kiss came up and I stopped to think for a while, before deciding she was still a little too shy to take the active step to kiss him, and she briefly looked away. Even though this fitted the character, and at the time I believed that there would be another opportunity later in the game, I actually felt guilty for the next few days that I'd denied this person, who does not exist, her chance at love! Especially when Withers started poking at it... And yes, this did make me think about things. In the end, I did post on the forum that it would be nice to be able to start a romance in act 3 if you failed to do so earlier in the game, but what happened to my character is just part of her story, too. I see it as a statement on missed opportunities; I'll leave it up to you if you want to put your own interpretation on what happened with Shadowheart
Great video and excellent points. I love the drama, conflict, altercations and obstacles on the path to the goal much more than the actual ending. A sweet and romantic ending becomes much more meaningful to me knowing that the characters had distractions and choices in the shape of other priorities, attractions, insecurites and duties that they chose to forsake in the end because of their commitment to each other. And a tragic break-up or bittersweet what could have been, could be so much more compelling and emotional than just getting the trophy that stands around in camp and waits for me to ask them for a kiss.
