Add some more unavoidable or less-avoidable NPC interactions to drive the story around the main bosses. Name drop some additional NPCs or hint at some locations or something if you want to find out more.
So many of the NPCs in Sacrament clearly have interesting or possibly developing side stories. And I’m probably asking for something you guys already know and intentionally hid.
Doing detective work for the story is a great immersion device. But some things I feel like need to be broadcast a little bit more just to seed the initial investment.
I’ll blur out the story examples for those who haven’t played through the story yet.
Warrick
Probably the only character who was introduced the most thoroughly. Hints that there was a monster at the gate. You don’t know much of anything about the Pestilence yet.
But you get the idea that it was just a guy. And you can find someone who knows about him if you look around. But at least you had enough hints to go seek out the story afterward. It won’t change how you feel about him. But you know that you’re being set up for the larger story.
Darak
In your first encounter with Darak, I understand why it goes down the way it does. You’re asked to fight him and don’t have much context. You can ask Erin and she just tells you effectively “same team, different reasons”.
A second encounter, there’s an opportunity to revisit motivations. But I didn’t notice any invitation to find out more. So I proceed to the Black Trench and fight him the second time and he’s clearly got some reason because the encounter seems almost tragic. But I have no clue.
It wasn’t until much later that I happened to wander around Sacrament and accidentally find an NPC that knows about him and you realize there’s a love story. It was like hearing a joke and then having someone else explain the punchline to you. The story felt flat after that.
If I had known that leading up to the 2nd encounter, I would’ve felt a lot differently about it. Conflicted even.
Riven Twins
I didn’t understand who the Riven Twins were. Still don’t. I was actually surprised when I ran into them because I didn’t expect to be in a boss fight at all at that point. Big womp womp for me though their opening cut scene felt epic.
Overall, the larger story seems like it’s building up to something big. And I’m excited to find out more. I just wish the the delivery of the smaller story arcs were a little more well-defined. I’ll try to forget about it for a bit so I can motivate myself for that second story playthrough.