I've been trying to deep dive into the game after an extended hiatus, and the best I can think to describe the storytelling is that it's...... uneven.
So far, i've done the initial game's story, season two, Heart of Thorns, the start of season three, and then Secrets of the Obscure. Secrets was something that I was excited to dive into because it was a fresh piece of storytelling that I could join my friends on. They've been playing the game forever, and it seemed like a great place to get started with the game again.
I'm not sure where this stems from, but the storylines feel like they're rushed. I can see so many good ideas laced throughout their presentation, and a plethora of fascinating bits of lore that makes me want to learn more...
... but there are too many characters that don't get the time they need to develop.
... Too many events that don't have the payoff I think that the writers want because they haven't spent the time building up to it.
... Too many companions that don't even need to be there at all because they don't really add anything and take away from the writer's ability to build upon the characters they *do* have.
... Too many interruptions when the pacing *is* alright to pad out how long it takes to actually complete the storyline.
All of that is putting aside the issues that I have with some of the encounters, too, but I think those pieces validate what i'm going to guess is the problem laying over all of this. Season 3's bosses feel more like gimmicks, if i'm being honest, and most of SotO's encounters have maybe a single mechanic.
To be honest, it feels like the devs are stretching themselves thin here. It's better to have a few characters that are deep and rich than a large cast. It's better to have one single, bombastic payoff that you build up to over five hours than multiple small ones. It's better that if you only have an hour or so of runtime to tell a story that you maybe not do something enormous, and instead stick to small progression that builds our connection to the characters.
Peitha didn't earn her reveal.
Mabon's death didn't really resonate to me outside of Zojja, who i've had time to build a connection to over years of playing the game.
Season 3's Villains were on screen for such a short period of time that, at best, they came across as mustache twirly.
The biggest bummer here is that the foundation was there for these few examples to really resonate if they had spent their time wisely. The structure that's being built on that foundation is barely standing up, though.
So... slow down. Take more time to develop these things. If you're stretched for time, don't try to have so many things happen, and limit the number of characters you're trying to build up. Use your runtime smarter, and I think you'll hit more home runs and strike out less.
There's clearly talent in the writing team. I just don't think they're showing their full potential, and as a new player, that's incredibly frustrating. Story is how I get invested in a game's world, and I really want to do that here. It's been hard, though, for all the reasons I listed above.
Figured i'd pitch in my two cents as an fledgling author who understands feeling this kind of pressure, but can see the potential in something being put together.
Fair. You're not the only person to say this when I talk about Peitha with my friends. We've been pretty evenly split on it. To elaborate: I didn't feel like she got much time to be anything other than a malicious whisper in your head, so when she turns and asks for your help, it felt completely out of left field. While it's true that she helped us against BuffBoiDemonMan, there wasn't enough of her character revealed for me to go "Ah-ha. She's betraying them. She's on our side now". At first, I thought she was doing it for her own selfish aims, or to betray us. Then she comes around and drops her reveal. The fact that Isgarren so readily accepted her request immediately after his entire order was nearly destroyed by demons also made little to no sense. There needed to be a little more to close the gap there in my opinion, both for her and for Isgarren.
