This is unrelated to Path of the Nameless, but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts regarding the Bloodclaw finale, because maybe by giving you my feedback it can help make this wonderful story even better, so here it goes! After giving it some more thought, here is my opinion on how the Bloodclaw epilogue could be improved:
- I realise this is a huge undertaking, but the ending of an amazing story such as this, the ending of one of the most influential figures of Arkain, should have a long cinematic full of dialogue. It feels strange that even relatively "short" Arkain cutscenes can be around 10 minutes long, and then the longest version of the epilogue is around 4 minutes (if you pick the elven children, that adds 2 minutes to the ending, otherwise it's 1-2 minutes long). Also, the "this happened, then this happened, and then this..." was never the way Arkain told its story, the whole thing felt like we are rushing through important events in a summary. I know this is not the case, but with the exception of the First Book endings (those were more like recaps of what happened, and Largoth musing on the player's choices), Arkain always told its story through real time dialogues.
- I also think the consequences of taking the elven children vs human children are disproportionate. I like the fact, that if you take the elven children, the human children die, but if you take the human children, everyone is fine, which kind of makes choosing the human children feel like the "optimal" choice. Maybe there should be some kind of narrative drawback for taking the human children, because currently, taking them feels like the safer and more rewarding option in retrospect. Especially since it also does not mess with the player's alcohol choice, more on that later. All in all, I think taking the human children could have a heavier narrative cost in the epilogue, to make the choice at the end of mission 3 feel more compelling and morally difficult, even on a second playthrough.
- Another issue is that the death of Gardon’s children overrides the alcohol choice entirely. I realise it's in character for Gardon (or anyone) to succumb to alcoholism after his children die, but it makes the choice of the previous two missions less meaningful. Why would I suffer the withdrawal symptoms in mission 4 and 5, if I took the elven children with me? It feels pointless, because he will start drinking again in the epilogue. This also makes it so, that if the player chooses the elven children, the only way to save Gardon, is to side with Brian in mission 5, otherwise he either becomes and undead or just dies. It restricts your choices (if you want him to survive) which is a shame, and makes abstaining from the wine feel pointless.
Please keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I hope this feedback can useful to you, and I’m looking forward to seeing Veln meet his destiny one way or another!
