Let's talk about this for second.
I think as we come more and more to the middle (end of the middle?) of the game, the lack of a credible antagonist is really starting to hurt the story. Despite what the trainer said, we fought Caleb to a standstill on our very first outing. Vinny only beat us cause he had a gun and Quinn (imo, the character with the BEST potential to be an compelling and dangerous villain) has been reduced to a mere love interest.
Who are we trying to overcome? Who is it that is supposed to make us feel outmatched and overwhelmed? BaD has good-to-excellent character writing and pretty good (despite the Dev's LOVE of drama) subplot writing; but much like mainstream media project these days, it flails at core structural writing.
Fuckface isn't Rocky Balboa just hoping he can go the distance against the Heavyweight Champion of the World. He's Rey 'Skywalker'. Every single guy he goes up against, he crushes. Every problem, he solves, every issue he resolves. Tommy and Quinn even point it out in the last episode, he's good at everything he does.
Now this isn't the end of the world, most people enjoy a bit of power fantasy in porn and that's fine. But DPC keeps telling us again and again that he wants to tell a STORY here. And the problem is dangerous antagonists are what drive a story. Right about now (just past halfway) is when things need to start going WRONG. In standard story structure, after the midpoint, where the protagonist has some measure of success, the antagonist needs to counterstrike and raise the stakes still higher.
For example, in the Dark Knight; Batman captures the Joker at the midpoint without killing him. He saves the city and keeps his soul, seemingly without any sacrifice (he doesn't know he lost Rachel yet). This is a major high for both the audience and him. It's meant to be a moment of triumph which they becomes all the more bittersweet when the drop comes next. The Joker escapes, once again demonstrating his theory that Gotham is too corrupt to be saved, then kills Batman's Love Interest and turns the 'hero' of the story insane. These highs and lows aren't just for fun, they're a direct and necessary way to guide the audience's emotions and thoughts. We're meant to question our values and our place in society. Do you give up power to some dangerous person and pray he hands it back? Are people fundamentally good? Do the ends justify the means?
I use TDK because its an easy example. People love the movie because of the Joker, but they don't realize they love the Joker, because he's allowed to move the story more than most villains. He has success, great success during the course of the film. We don't just question whether or not he'll win. We also question whether or not he
deserves to win. And further, he does get proven right at several key junctures. Sure, Batman and the people of Gotham both pass his little tests, but Gordon doesn't, neither does Harvey. Batman gets run around the city and nearly destroyed cause he won't break his one rule.
Now go back to BaD. Who is our antagonist? Is it an opposing force? A person? A general sense of corruption? It could be any of these, but we need to start seeing it come up right away and it needs to be a BIG problem. The MC needs to fail at something, he needs to be defeated. He needs to lose, then tie, then lose again maybe. There need to be consequences for his bad decisions, sacrifices to pay for his successes, losses and pain and suffering. At least, if DPC still wants to make an actual story. Cause right now, its just a gentle narrative on easy mode.
Thoughts?
And who do you think the opposing force of this game is/was? I'm curious.