>>718281680
Even then, a lot of characters don't get many rapport conversation. I think 1 character with 10 rapports would have been more memorable than 2 with 5.
Also, I think the (technically) open ended region progression hurt the story. Like, you can theoretically go to Bastorias super early in the game, if you can find a way to beat the mission to enter it. But that winds up meaning that none of the characters you get in Cornia, Drakenhold or Elheim can play a role in Bastorias's story, since you can technically get there before recruiting them. This leads to even the allegedly important characters suffering from a problem where they only do stuff briefly in their home region and then basically vanish.
Hell, that even explains Scarletts problem. You can technically ignore the mission to save her and go the whole game without her. But that just makes it so they couldn't give her any fucking time in the spotlight the entire game because the player MIGHT not have rescued her.
So it leads you to wonder. While it's neat that they planned for the possibility of all these hyper-specific, highly un-intuitive routes to play through the game, was it really worth it? Was making Scarlett and so many other characters almost completely absent from the overarching story really worth it for the .001% of players who will, for god knows what reason, ignore Scarlett and rush to Bastorias on their first playthrough?
