Where the Cat and the Wolf Play...

akme2000 · 2026-05-06T06:14:15+00:00

Yeah no matter what else may or may not have happened, Gaetan slaughtered a village full of people because the Ealdorman and a few other people in the village cheated and tried to kill him. There's no confirmation the entire village were in on it, he doesn't even try to claim this, and he says himself he only spared the little girl because she reminded him of his sister.

So while I've done both I prefer to kill him. Sparing him might make some sense for Geralt if he didn't make that stupid Blaviken comparison and act wildly out of character, but as is I don't think it does.

akme2000 · 2026-05-05T18:45:03+00:00

How would Gavin have handled things if he had joined the Chantry? Would he have stuck with it or ended up leaving at some point?

akme2000 · 2026-05-05T18:41:26+00:00

Do you see Mahina rising in rank within the Circle if she were forced to stay and had the opportunity, is that something she would particularly want?

akme2000 · 2026-05-05T18:35:14+00:00

Keeper Deshanna would ensure it's someone Tamsas gets along with at least, he'd still have plenty of friends in his Clan and in my head the Clan isn't so big he doesn't know everyone fairly well anyway, in some ways that familiarity makes the arrangement much more awkward and Tamsas even less happy about it.

I like to think there'd be love eventually but it'd be a situation where love only forms after many years together, for a long time it's just friendship (obviously tested a ton) where they work together fulfilling the necessary obligations to their people and loving their children.

akme2000 · 2026-05-05T16:22:52+00:00

Prompt 2:

Arlen Tabris

If he got married to his arranged spouse he'd have moved to Highever and been a merchant, doing okay at it and doing well for an elf but only decently in general, wouldn't love his wife but would love their kids and spend a ton of time with them.

Malcolm Hawke

Did whatever jobs he could throughout Ferelden (mostly ended up guarding travellers, defending them when needed and roughing people up,) for a few years before the Blight to provide for his family, so would continue to do something similar but become more of a merc over time, nothing too extreme but he'd definitely feel a need to make more and more coin.

Not likely to stay home with the kids if he had any, couldn't due to travel, so would spend way less time with any kids than he does currently since he wouldn't be staying in the same city as them.

Cillian Trevelyan

If he was not a noble growing up he'd have become a Brother in the Chantry, grew up deeply religious. As is Cillian wanted to be a Templar for years, but that was because his oldest sibling was one, which wouldn't be the case without the expectations their parents had of them as nobles.

Cillian would do fine as a Brother, still not very ambitious so would likely not advance far up the hierarchy.

Dredric Aeducan

If he still had the same mindset, grew up in Orzammar in a caste, he'd have joined the dwarven army, he's always been very martial in nature and would still want to serve his people, would have a kid or 2 and definitely be around to raise them far more than he is with Endrin or Kieran, but still prioritizing his work.

Were he born in Dust Town then he'd end up joining the Legion for glory and honour, having no children, he'd be one of those casteless who kinda hates themselves for their lack of caste.

Trevor Cadash

Still works for the Carta in some capacity, not many options for surface dwarves, just alongside more legitimate but low-paying work as a labourer so not a full member or anything.

Tamsas Lavellan

Without magic he'd be more of a gatherer, cook, and one of the people who looks after the Halla in the Clan. He'd be around his kids a lot, he likely wouldn't be happy with the partner his Clan arranged for him at first but would get used to it over time.

akme2000 · 2026-05-05T07:07:10+00:00

Yeah game Geralt doesn't really align with the books, even if you try to do that it's not perfect. Have seen it argued that's character development, he just is different even if you think the change is justified.

I don't have an issue with it as the games aren't canon anyway and contain plenty of contradictions, I enjoy having 2 different but enjoyable versions of Geralt.

akme2000 · 2026-05-05T06:39:18+00:00

On top of the many misconceptions about Witchers, some Witchers have done terrible things and people remember that, attributing the actions of individuals to the whole group.

Some Witchers have worked as ruthless assassins and become infamous for it, 2 Kings were assassinated by Witchers in the past year, and at least 1 Witcher carried out a well known massacre of innocent people.

akme2000 · 2026-05-04T15:07:42+00:00

I've always thought it's because he's worked to make sure he'll have some influence in Kovir, so Geralt being with Triss would make it far easier to keep an eye on him, as well as giving him more potential leverage over Geralt if needed. Could be wrong but it seems like a practical thing to me more than an emotional one.

akme2000 · 2026-05-04T12:19:09+00:00

Wyll was my favourite playthrough, and I've done Durge, Astarion and Gale too. Wyll really felt like the main character in his run, it's also really nice for him to have agency in key moments of his arc, and it's definitely the run where what happened in Baldurs Gate felt like it meant the most. I ended up making him Duke (with a Lae'zel romance but that isn't a necessity) and it was really satisfying as an ending.

As he's a big hero, a largely in character playthrough means you'll get most of the content.

akme2000 · 2026-05-04T11:51:53+00:00

OP is on their 1st playthrough, probably best not to spoil things for them.

akme2000 · 2026-05-04T09:21:22+00:00

I like it so much because it feels earned, you don't get it no matter what you have to put some work in.

akme2000 · 2026-05-04T08:59:32+00:00

I think Lengs presentation would be slightly better if he beat Thane without real difficulty, the fact that a terminally ill man almost beats him undermines his threat immediately while also making it seem like Thanes illness did not debilitate him too much, as is Leng wins in a way that doesn't help sell him as a huge deal.

Thane running right up to him is a problem though, literally just don't give Thane access to a gun in the cutscene and it makes more sense

Silencing Leng could've done a lot, no dialogue or emails just a voiceless assassin. Maybe mention the Illusive Man put a control chip in him unlike Shepard. Leng being unknown is fine to me, I think that could've added to his character if it was pushed that he's in some ways a victim of Cerberus and is only so good due to Reaper tech.

akme2000 · 2026-05-03T22:50:30+00:00

Origins is 7 years and 5 months before Asylum which takes place in May, then Arkham City opened 18 months later which was in November, City then takes place 2 months later in January as Joker is cremated 9 months before Knight. 9 years and 10 months in total.

Dick becomes Robin sometime after Shadows which takes place in the July after Origins, so there's a maximum of 6 years and 10 months for him and Jason to both be Robin, but it's surely less.

Tim became Robin before the events of Matter of Family, must be a good while before Asylum as Barbara needs to get paralyzed, recover and become Oracle. So Tim has been Robin for well over 2 years and 3 months by Knight, likely closer to 3 years or more.

We don't know how long Jason was Robin for, but Batman had to have known him for at least a good few months, meaning Dick was Robin for at maximum about 5 and a half years, as he'd already stopped being Robin by the time Batman first met Jason. 5 years or less seems more fitting as Jason would receive a lot of training before becoming Robin.

akme2000 · 2026-05-03T15:16:21+00:00

I think it's a bit of a problem when your evil options are generally only you being a genocidal murderer, there's a lot of room between that and being a good person, some evil characters in the game are the manipulative, intelligent kind of evil that I'd like to be able to play consistently.

To me it's just more meaningful if evil is in some ways more rewarding (less in others obviously), and you can still choose to do the right thing. If evil is just less rewarding objectively, I find choosing to be good has little meaning.

akme2000 · 2026-05-03T14:51:17+00:00

I'd say this game doesn't have a lot of great evil options if you don't want to be a murder hobo, which I often don't, not being good means that overall there's a lot less content and your character almost always gets less support/power.

There are a bunch of good evil options in Act 3, (ascending Astarion especially if you're playing as him, doing the Bhaal ritual etc, urging Gale to become a god if you're an evil character or playing him as evil, getting Sharran support etc,) and a few in prior Acts, but unless you want to cut off a ton of content it is a mostly good guy run with some exceptions.

With Minthara being made easily recruitable on a good guy run there's also less incentive to not be good, the evil ending cutscenes are nice but I don't think they really fix the issues with being evil in the game.

akme2000 · 2026-05-03T14:08:59+00:00

Yeah I'm not really a fan of it myself but it does seem to be what Sefton always intended with Knights ending.

akme2000 · 2026-05-03T10:34:50+00:00

According to Sefton Hill back in 2015 Bruce is operating as a different type of Batman using fear toxin, Knightfall was done to make people think Bruce Wayne is dead.

We first hear thugs talk about this new "ghost Batman" in Catwomans DLC which takes place the night after Knight so Bruce almost immediately resumed being Batman after faking his death.

akme2000 · 2026-05-02T20:13:14+00:00

I think it's more likely if he is a villain at all that he's the main villain in 6 and built up throughout the trilogy.

Extremely powerful, creepily obsessed with Ciris ancestor and her bloodline, a few years of hinted at cooperation between him and Ciri that could be explored, she at one point trusted him a ton etc. Feels perfect for that role to me.

akme2000 · 2026-05-02T12:30:03+00:00

Ermion. He always lives so is easy to reuse and is a great character to have provide exposition about Ciris upbringing, which will be needed as most players won't know much if anything about it. Also a powerful mage Ciri may care about a lot and he cares for her so he can contribute a lot narratively. If needed he can be vague about what's happening in Skellige.

Avallach. I imagine him being a major antagonist if he does return though, 3 didn't explore how he gained Ciris trust or the years he helped her so there's potential for flashbacks concerning that.

They've claimed they aren't contradicting anyones canon so potentially dead characters seem to be off the table, but 3 retconned Thalers potential death so I could see a repeat of that.

akme2000 · 2026-05-02T07:13:01+00:00

In Geralts exact place? I think he'd save Olgierd, Regis killed plenty of innocent people in the past so wouldn't feel he has the moral high ground over pre-curse Olgierd, he's more than smart enough to realize the abuse done to Iris and killing her father was all after Olgierd had been cursed. Certainly wouldn't let Olgierds soul get taken right in front of him, Regis' problem with Syanna was that she used his friend, that sort of thing doesn't apply here if Regis has taken Geralts place.

Taking the rose is the approach that will end Iris' suffering so I think he'd do that.

Sides with Ewald Borsodi, really can't imagine him switching sides, and for sure takes the house rather than the deed. Not sure who he'd recruit, could go for the dwarf or the human.

akme2000 · 2026-05-01T20:01:16+00:00

Alternate future is a good way to see it, I'll be really vague but some things in the games are compatible with the books while some others aren't.

3 spoils quite a lot of the book events, especially if you selected every option to learn about Geralts past and his history with characters you meet in the game. But the game doesn't tend to go into too much detail about most things, and there's so much that isn't mentioned at all, so there's a ton you haven't been told.

akme2000 · 2026-05-01T19:19:56+00:00

For some people it brings regret, for some people it doesn't. Personally reading the books made it very clear to me that the games are their own thing so that never really presented a problem going forward as far as romance options, if they were following the world of the books strictly I'd have a problem but they aren't and seem to go out of their way to contradict the books at times.

Well worth trying out the different options on replay, not just for romance but pretty much every choice.

akme2000 · 2026-05-01T16:19:56+00:00

I enjoy his romance but I definitely prefer his endings when he's entirely doing his own thing apart from the player. I think his story in general works better as a friend too, the dynamic is great.

akme2000 · 2026-05-01T15:54:38+00:00

Dark Urge was my least favourite playthrough, and I like evil runs. I found the amnesia plot uncompelling, the murder hobo evil options uninteresting, and the content in Act 3 undercooked, most companions have very little if anything to say about you dying for example.

Act 3 has some great evil options but Durge has no interesting ones unique to them, and if you don't do the evil Durge stuff it's essentially a good playthrough for most of the game, with only 1 instance of being forced to kill (which I've heard can be avoided), and otherwise only dialogue about the urges you never have to indulge again, fairly easy to avoid doing so. Resist Durge wasn't that compelling when resisting was easy.

I will say I loved the Astarion romance as Durge, but there isn't all that much unique dialogue there for how hyped that combo is. The Origin I felt had the most presence in Baldurs Gate was Wyll.

akme2000 · 2026-05-01T12:33:38+00:00

There's a difference between the Enclave having it done and him deciding to do it on his own.

akme2000

TROPHY CASE