Taevyr

He'd tell everybody he's working for the Huana, but he'd actually be setting up various enterprises with the VTC, while behind the scenes he's actively helping the RDC. Not to mention several gods believe Eothas interfered with his election as Berath's herald, which would undermine his position. "He was only chosen because Eothas killed him in the first pace! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!" EDIT: "killed him in the first pace" has to be my best typo ever

The issue there is that companions in the Baldur's Gate games aren't really all that fleshed out across the board (or at all if you look back at the first game). The more correct comparison would be Planescape: Torment in this case, and that game for example has half as many characters, yet clearly places its emphasis on depth over breadth instead. Similarly several other games that fancied themselves spiritual successors opted for less companions that were more fleshed out and reactive instead (see the Dragon Age games, Pillars, Neverwinter Nights 2, etc). The issue with your statement is that you limit your choice for this game to how another game implemented it. In my proposal all characters are fleshed out. In that case I hope you have plenty of money to throw at Obsidian and a willingness to wait at least 7-8 years for them to finish writing all their companions, because it'd be a hot mess otherwise.

CAN'T BE UNSEEN. damn that brings me back

"Adra man seems to think he can do as he wants in the deadfire. Too bad for him I've got a ship aimed straight at him, and I'm not afraid to sail it." "Gods can't even agree on a plan to deal with Adra Man. SAD!"

That isn't a bug. That is the line that reflects the highest possible approval from Xoti. It's triggering in the right place. Someone just needed to do a pass to make sure that reaction made sense. The thing is, she'd definitely approve highly of someone properly putting the dead to rest. The problem is that they use "stock reactions" for certain levels of approval, which leads to this hilariously macabre reaction. If they'd have checked whether their reactions fit the circumstances, this wouldn't have happened.

I don't mind the sidekicks, but if the time spent implementing them could be used to further flesh out the existing companions and improve the disappointing relation system I wouldn't mind losing them. Can't have a story- and party-based RPG without a storied party, except if we're going the Icewind Dale route. I prefer the interactions between the Deadfire companions (e.g. the "crisis conversations" when firing appropriately) to the often non-existant ones between PoE1 companions, but the relationship system is still largely arbitrary and silly: Aloth's approval of duty even when said duty goes in against his other beliefs, a couple of jokes making people love each other, etc. The way companions react to and interact with each other outside of the relationship system's done way better than the system those relationships are supposedly built upon, which can't be what the writers intended.

I'll take "shady lore (and ink) addict" for 100 points, please. Though that description fits me a bit too much for comfort, except for the ink.

i would have really liked to poke around tyranny 2 a bit, i have to admit. Especially since the ending of Tyranny is the perfect set-up for a sequel, and there's only a small part of the world involved in it. Not to mention I can't think of any other fantasy RPG's set during the early Iron age, which combined with the magic system and lore makes for an amazingly unique setting. For a hypothetical Tyranny 2, an idea would be a game set in the Tyranny world in which you end up becoming an archon, but the type of archon (e.g. war, fire, fecund fluids) depends on your choices and actions throughout the game. It'd be terribly difficult to pull off properly though, not to mention the options would be quite restricted. Deadfire still needs a lot of work before it's finished, but I definitely prefer tyranny's story and C&C. Which is a shame, considering how tyranny was a smaller project and remained relatively unnoticed among the other new CRPG's

Honestly? As a bilingual guy who lives abroad, randomly substituting a certain word in one or the other language since you momentarily forgot it in the proper one, cursing and making other exclamations of surprise/shock in my mother tongue, and misusing one language's idioms in the other are all rather common occurances for me. I'd say they did alright in imitating it in-game.

I definitely agree, especially concerning reactivity. Being able to see how your choices during the conquest and throughout the game influenced the world in Tyranny was one of it's best features, which felt really hollow in Deadfire. The odd part is that some of the writers for Tyranny moved on to work on Deadfire, so we can assume it's not because they didn't know how to implement it further.

I thought as much, but as I often skip thorugh convos, especially ones with gods, I couldn't say for sure. Would be interesting, but probably not the case since this has appeared. Portret-based spoiler warning for that thread. And at least one bad pun, courtesy of me.

I just found the whole tantrum thing ruined the character. Like I get it, the point of Wael is to be interested in keeping the secrets of the gods and that is what all this mystery stuff is really about but Wael doesn't actually do anything. Woedica had the leaden key, Magran had Magran's teeth, Ondra had a moon but Wael just has a tamtrum and steals all of your scrolls if you didn't do a quest the way they wanted. I didn't hate the conference call scenes like a lot of people did, they were interesting to me but I think Wael and several of the other gods should not have been involved in these scenes. For me he appeared in the telescope in Bekarna's folly . It fit him quite well, though it could be because I multiclassed as part Priest of Wael. Nah pretty sure that happens for everyone, but there is no incentive or reason to do what Wael wants there. Galawain and Rymrgand make simmilar appearences that basically boil down to the same thing and at least try to make a case for you doing what they want. When Wael asks you to scatter the souls that is at least interesting, makes you wonder what would happen if you did that, makes you wonder why Wael wants you to do that ect. If Wael made a case for why he's asking you not to look into the stars too much during his appearance, it'd go against his point: keeping mysteries intact and creating new ones from the unveiling of old ones. The souls could simply be the creation of a mystery even the watcher doesn't know the answer to, which was appealing enough to me. The stars probably have something going on with them, but we can hardly expect Wael to explain it to us.

I just found the whole tantrum thing ruined the character. Like I get it, the point of Wael is to be interested in keeping the secrets of the gods and that is what all this mystery stuff is really about but Wael doesn't actually do anything. Woedica had the leaden key, Magran had Magran's teeth, Ondra had a moon but Wael just has a tamtrum and steals all of your scrolls if you didn't do a quest the way they wanted. I didn't hate the conference call scenes like a lot of people did, they were interesting to me but I think Wael and several of the other gods should not have been involved in these scenes. For me he appeared in the telescope in Bekarna's folly . It fit him quite well, though it could be because I multiclassed as part Priest of Wael.

Konstanten and Fassina each have enough characterization to be compelling sidekicks, but not enough to be a full-fledged companions, though this could technically be expanded in a DLC Mirke's as shallow as they come, so perfect sidekick material. Rekke's fun, but I'm afraid he'll be more of a plot vehicle than an actual companion, should he be "upgraded" in Deadfire. If PoE3 does something involving his homeland it'd work better. Ydwin offers the most potential: there's a connection with the main quest and factions, clear characterisation, and a reason to travel with you. I really hope she'll be "upgraded" at some point.

I have a soft spot for Verse myself, though she also made me sleep with at least three knives hidden within arm distance. Hard to resist a witty woman.

Wait, were they? Because if they were it's no surprise both of them ended up being my favorites. Yup, Paul Kirsch. Looked him up and found this list I'm officially impressed. Tekehu is probably the only character in there who isn't either a psycho, a fascist, a racist, or some combination of those, and they're all believably written to boot.

For Teheku the problem was that I was already a CC/Nuke wizard, I had Pallegina as a herald for passive buffs and I had Xoti as a healer/buffer. He made a bad first impression and I just had no room for his roles anyway. For Maia, she seems to be disliked for two things: her racism, and her loyalty to the RDC. The racism irked me as well, but was somewhat understandable considering the time period and her background. Loyalty/sense of duty are positive traits in my book, but are problematic here due to both traits being directed at the RDC: To me, it seems like she simply wants to do right by the country that took in her emigrating family and allowed them to reach an honored position in it. I imagine it's similar to how Pallegina got benched by many due to her incessant hatred of everything religious and blind loyalty to the republics. Tekehu has a bad first impression if you take him at face value, which means that many write him off without delving deeper into his character. I still got somewhat annoyed at his "narcissism" later in my playthrough, but he seems to be the most genuinely good person in your party, trying to respect/befriend everyone in his own awkward way while thinking how he could improve his society. It's too bad i had Aloth for casting and myself for chants, or I'd given him a spot in my party. Gotta give credit to Kirsch for his writing here: You can generally say a companion's written well when they stir strong, but strongly differing opinions in most players.

I liked Wael the best in the first game, and liked his interactions here except for the tantrum over "revealing the gods secrets", but at least that fit his character. Not that much to say about him though. Magran was...lackluster. I expected her to be at least somewhat more clever and strategic, not recklessly try to blow up Eothas again, then pretend as if defeat was preordained anyway when it fails. Eothas fit his purview perfectly in the way only a pillars god could: show your faith in Kith as you kill them by the dozens since it'll save everyone by potentially dooming them. Woedica was Woedica: a decently written petty old noblewoman who longs for "the old days", which is all I need to really dislike her. Berath was done the best in my opinion, which is peculiar since we only dealt with one half of the dual god: The pallid knight really made an impression as a stoic, patient observer who may have more of a hand in events than it seems. Rymrgand was great, especially in his realm. I don't like the fellow, but at least he actually feels threatening, unlike his impotent fellow gods. Skaen, Hylea and Abydon didn't appear outside of the divine council on my playthrough, so not much to say on them. Hylea at least had her appearance , which weirded me out enough to immediately cut it short. Galawain felt odd in his interaction in Cilath mor: Is the god of natural selection really protecting his favorite sea beasts from disappearing here? Ondra never acknowledged my moon godlike, which i'm still salty about (pun intended). Seemed done well enough, especially involving Tekehu. All in all, most of them needed some more involvement in-game, since they come across as an impotent bunch of squabbling politicians stuck in their party line. Hardly any of them does anything, and even then those actions usually don't end up meaning anything anyway.

Ondra never even acknowledged me being a moon godlike in my playthrough, and I hope this is either an oversight, or an indication that Moon godlikes aren't connected with Ondra after all. When people all over the deadfire acknowledge you as "Ngati's chosen" to the point of irritation, yet the god who's supposed to be your divine parent hardly acknowledges you while doting over her other "son", something's off. General acknowledgement of being a godlike's well done, though, especially when you learn of your "purpose".

Asking the important questions. Could be, as he looks rather horny .....I'll see myself out EDIT: if he turns out to be romanceable, I can't wait to see how Rymrgand reacts to it. Rymrgand: My children are avatars of cold, death and entropy, doomed to an empty life devoid of meaning and love. MC: Ayyy, lemme smash Rymrgand: DON'T YOU DARE ADD MEANING TO HIS LIFE, WATCHER!

Wait, Xoti's 27?! I can see her being similar to a starry-eyed college freshmen, but wouldn't ever put her at 20 or older.

I didn't have Tekehu in my party much, but he definitely left a good impression: his conflict's very believable, and his personality fits it quite well. Maia's mostly how she seems on the surface: aloof, straightforward and dutiful, but her personal quest and deadpan remarks made up for most in my opinion. I can see why many call her bland, but I didn't mind having a companion who's mostly as she seems on introduction. She also has some great ambient comments when you romance her and enter a new area, though I don't remember the exact wording. Eder seems like they increased his inner "bro", and while he's still fun and dependable, I'm fairly certain he hit his head once too often between the two games. Aloth seems slightly out of place, but I can't fault his reasons for being in the Deadfire: Engwithan ruins and an ancient Leaden Key offshoot are good enough for me to suspend disbelief. I also think most of the trouble *cough disliking everything cough* with him comes from the faulty relation system, and I liked his writing here myself. Xoti's fun and makes you feel like a responsible older sibling for looking after her, and definitely has the best integration with the main story from what I've seen. However, she's exaggerated: "Inexperienced farmgirl" with a blend of "Religious duty" and "Crazy zealot" depending on which way you go with her, and she loves everyone for some reason. Very similar to DA:O's leliana in concept, but not executed as well or as nuanced in my opinion. Pallegina didn't spend much time in my party, mostly because it seems they took her opinions and loyalties in PoE1, and stretched them until they got a slightly obsessed zealot. Not to mention my dislike for the VTC probably wouldn't have worked with her. Will give her a fair chance in a future playthrough, like with Tekehu. Serafen's your friendly neighbourhood pirate, which is why I liked him well enough. His reactivity in Crookspur could use some work, but the idea's good. Fassina's a simple concept: Could make for a potential companion, but I think she's a perfect fit for a sidekick. Rather stuck up though. Rekke's a plot hook, as fun as the guy himself may be. Don't see him being a full companion except as a plot vehicle. Ydwin's a wasted opportunity, and I hope they add her as a full companion at some point. Never met Konstanten (why would anyone go to the 2nd floor of the wild mare when there's an entire party thirsting for them?) so I can't really judge him as all I know is that he has big hands and a memorable voice. As an aside, it's kind of odd how different the writing and general reaction to Maia and Tekehu is, as they were supposedly written by the same guy.

Sounds familiar, though I preferred those over the hundreds of times someone must've called me 'Ngati's chosen', both in-conversation and in passing. After some time you actually start sympathizing with Pallegina's attitude towards being godlike. My favorite bit of reactivity has to be the Chanter option with the mute Huana woman, which I think was on Tikawara: She's next a large drum used to send hunting/warning signals and help her communicate, which gives you an option to drum back in response; gradually leading into playing the drum together for a while after getting into a rhythm. It was quite heart-warming reading how the other villagers eventually join in on the music as well, especially considering the bleak state you find the village in.

I really liked the way Aloth was written in Deadfire as well, especially as he gave me the -1 "You're being too traditional" speech rather soon after leaving Port Maje, then apologized for it when I reached +1, which was during his personal quest. Having him tell me how he "shouldn't have judged me that quickly, considering our shared history in the Dyrwood" or something like that really brought the feels, and having a companion actually remark on the fact that you changed his opinion of you isn't something I've seen often.

They planned adding certain trinkets for every class, e.g. instruments for chanters if I'm not mistaken, but never quite managed to implement them properly. Could be the slot naming's a remnant of that, could be they may still add it, but I'd say it's unlikely. There isn't an Endless paths-style dungeon delve, but there's a very large amount of smaller dungeons scattered across the deadfire, with quite a few mid-sized ones. They're not as immersive as a single huge dungeon, but they're definitely enjoyable and worth digging through.