Perhaps I'm confused here, you guys all seem to be trashing on Raphael as if his entire plot arc is already in the game. As far as I've seen, he shows up one time, dangles the possibility of helping, and then vanishes regardless of how you talk to him and never comes back. This is clearly not fully implemented.
Sure, any criticism needs to be taken with "it's not finished yet". Still, to me it seemed like one of the most polished encounters, and one that was advertised heavily, so it not working, and not intruiging me at least, is worrying.
Something that came to my mind while writing - just rewatched the cutscene. "Direction" is rather unexistant. Just set of boring shots with stiff animations - at best showing objects talked about (like food or wider shot of the room) but not communicating anything. Having cinematic look can make things better or worse. Having a scary devil talk to us fully lighter from a generic medium closeup does make him rather unintimidating. What's more, through visual language we are presented as equals.
For now, I feel, BG3 cinematics detract from the experience - it's better to imagine conversation, than watch a dull one. It's Dragon Age: Origins bad. Are they going to revise major encounters? Are they just building technology? It could be, but considering the sheer size of the game, I can't imagine it getting Witcher3 treatment. That use of cinematic language (shot composition, framing, lighting etc) is what elevates Mass Effect 1&2 (ME3 visibly stumbles in that regards) and WItcher3, and lack of it makes other RPGs looks like dolls awkwardly muppeting at each other.
EDIT: See O'Dim's
reintroduction in HoS (timestamps 38 minute mark in case the timestamp doesn't work). Geralt sitting in dark selling his situation, O'Dim literally appearing from shadows, throughout the whole encounter he is shot from underneath and Geralt is from above. And yes, it is because he is standing and Geralt is sitting and having viewpoints and camera shots allign is critical, but they are shot there way to communicate the towering presence of O'Dim. He kneels when he offers help, gets back up when mentioning his capabilities (he doesn't need to say much as his VO and shot compositions reinforces his power). They come back to the same level as they "negotiate", Geralt in a clear "prisoner pose" and Master Mirror still being somewhat taller then Geralt is.
That's basic choreography but actually enhances the conversation.
