Given her continued actions against MC & K in 4.2, I'm not sure how you can envision a redemption arc for her. At this point, she's still fully self-centered, narcissistic, only concerned with how things affect her, not acknowledging the harm she has and is continuing to cause.
I've watched / read / played a lot of fictions, have a lot of imagination, and I study psychology. A redemption arc is pretty easy for me to envision. All one has to do is to see the characters for everything they are, and not put them in a box of evilness for the sake of hating them. Of course it only works with well-written characters. Usually, a redemption arc plays on rewarding the good traits of a character and punishing the bad ones. For example, Cassie might be selfish and jealous (bad traits) but she's also driven and determined (good traits). She wants to succeed (good traits) but she want to do it by herself and don't care about crushing people in her way (bad traits). She cared about someone else (good trait) but she was so afraid of getting hurt that she hurt him first (bad traits). There's probably more to say (like I said I need to replay the game to assess her character more clearly, I've only played the game twice).
But anyway a redemption arc works like any character progression : you take what the character want and what they don't want, and then you give them what they want ONLY IF they "become better", and you give them what they don't want (or prevent them for getting what they want) if they insist on staying "bad". You reward the good and punish the bad. This way they'll become better on their own, through story progression. I mean there's a lot more to it (for example I could write an entire chapter about the power balance between characters : did you notice that a "bad" guy always lose power and control before they become good ?). But anyway all that to say it's totally doable.
However, I understand that people who can't or refuse to see the good traits of a character would have a very hard time envisionning a "redemption arc" or even just a character developpement for said character.
In this day and age, we are very familiar with the damage an unbridled narcissistic psychopath can do.
Sure, but I'm more familiar with how easy people put other people into boxes in order to hate them instead of trying to understand and actually fix the issue. I mean it's not that bad here because we're talking about a character in a game, but sometimes it still annoys me. You don't win against a narcissistic psychopath by hating them, you win by outsmarting them and that means understanding them first. That, or just avoiding them entirely and not letting them get to you. Hatred is just a sign that whoever abused someone got to them, and it prevents healing.
It has been said that the first step is acknowledging that one has a problem. She still insists that other people are the problem.
If there is a redemption arc for her, she hasn't begun it yet. Characters on a redemption arc do not send thieves in to steal from the protagonists.
Yes, and yes. That's it, I just agree with that.
And even if she doesn't have a redemption arc it's fine by me. As long as she gets "punished" for all the bitchy thing she does. The embarrasment on TV was very fun to watch, as was Kindra fighting her or MC imagining throwing her out the window. Again, I'm not here painting her as a good person, just an interesting character worth talking about.
Even if Cassie suffered some trauma, perceived abuse in the past, she is actively seeking to pass that abuse onto others. I was able to have the cycle of abuse end with me--I did not perpetuate it upon others.
Like dd82 said, that's what trauma does. Trauma make people become the cause of the abuse and pass that abuse onto others, which create a cycle of abuse. I mean, if people here were talking about a real person, the hate would be a case of abuse. I know it might be difficult for a lot to understand, but there's a way to mock others without actually being mean.
I would not trust someone who continues the cycle, no matter how tragic they are in their own eyes. Such people are not safe until they chose to acknowledge the harm they are causing.
It's not about trust, it's about not hating. It's about judging the actions and not the person. It's about healing ourselves instead of letting hate consume us. It's about ignoring or mocking things to not let them affect us badly anymore, instead of being vengeful and bitter about it.
Plus people who continues the cycle won't either aknowledge the harm they're causing if everyone around them is being an asshole to them. Stopping them from harming others is good, helping them become better is great. Avoiding them is fine too I guess but it's not possible in some cases. However, revenge is a fool's errand (kudo if you have the reference, I realize this is a long shot).
Anyway, it's not like the haters are writting the story. Seeing the flashbacks and some scenes with Cassie makes me think that whatever happens to her won't be just out of some missplaced hatred for the character. The whole "getting punished for doing bad things" is on point (like I said with the embarrassement on TV and stuff). If she keeps losing and then get rewarded when she actually do something good, a redemption arc would be very plausible. If not and she stays bad, then I'll enjoy watching her lose and not get what she wants. I won't even romance her if there's a possibility to do so, I just don't think she deserves to die or be abused back.
