What do you guys think of the criticism that alexander is too "perfect" of an MC? Cause I feel like one of the issues with the last soverign was the party members all liked each other and got along too perfectly wheras in this game it feels more realistic with many of the party members actually having contentious opinons and some even hating each other like somnus and lorena.
But, and maybe this is just me, I feel like simon in TLS and alexander in this game are both kind of too perfect, but at least simon was kinda of initially a broken lost loser than built his way up into power and still made a LOT of fuck ups along the way, but alexander is kind of just perfect, born OP, never makes mistakes, never loses his cool, never abuses his power even a little, always knows how to perfectly balance pragmatism with principles etc. And Im ok with the honorable ned stark like characters but with no other flaws it makes the character feel kinda unrealistic. I still like him as a character but it feels wrong to cause he's too perfect, like a political intrigue one punch man lol. Now of course many of the major events havent happened yet so this could change next update if bad stuff or mistakes happen but up to now, am i tripping or nah?
I've seen this complaint a couple of places, so I don't think it's just you. That being said, I also think everyone complaining about it is just wrong. Here's why:
When someone complains about a character being too perfect, what they usually mean by this is, "I don't believe a person like this could exist in reality, and that is bad writing." To be fair, a protagonist who's very existence ruins your suspension of disbelief
would be bad writing. I just think the criteria people are using to judge whether or not protagonists are too perfect is broken.
Said (bad) criteria are usually:
-The protagonist succeeds a lot
-The protagonist gets along with everyone
-the protagonist is powerful
-the protagonist is multi-talented
But if you think about it, these are all traits that someone might believably have and manifest. A better list of criteria would be:
Good Criteria to measure bad writing by:
-The protagonist succeeds no matter what he does
-The protagonist is loved by all
-The protagonist gains powers for no reason and easily
-The protagonist never struggles at anything
These
look similar, but are actually very different lists.
Let's examine this in a more specific format with our example: Alexander.
Alexander does succeed at almost everything he puts his hand to. But it's important to note: this is because he
picks his battles. He doesn't try to march on Albion and overthrow Antipater right away. Instead he creates a ruse and steals away into Kharos to establish a base of operations, a much more limited objective, and notably more achievable. He doesn't try to have Calistrae join him against Antipater
and Ekestria, instead he pushes for a pact with Antipater, wherein they both acknowledge the greater threat. I think you can see the trend here: does Alexander seem to succeed a lot? Absolutely. Does he earn it: yes.
Alexander does get along with a lot of people. Is he loved by all though? Antipater hates his guts. Cassander and Sindarion both weren't big fans of him (although I'm sure Sindarion's coming around), and reportedly he got into big fights with Antiochus his father. More examples: did Lorena fall at his feet in abject sorrow for ever doubting him on their first encounter? or did she try to arrest him? Veronica and Ariadne have an ongoing dislike for each other, despite Alexander's obvious desire for them to get along, but clearly they don't just bend to his every whim. Count Hektor was not going to be convinced not to try to extort Alexander. While plenty of the interactions
we see are of people who appreciate Alexander, this is in part because he surrounds himself with people
he gets along with. There's no reality warping friendship inducing bad writing going on here.
Alexander is uniquely powerful. It's definitely noted, however, that he put in the work for this. Ariadne noted he was proud of his sorcery as a child. He spent years studying, both under the High Priestess of the Goddess of Magic, and at a far away academy famed throughout the continent for its quality. Honestly, where is someone with
better skills supposed to have developed them? And it's not like he's just casually picked up his father's legendary greatsword and converted his entire fighting style on a whim.
While Alexander is multi-talented, do these talents just pop into existence on a whim? Or do they have a basis in his history? One might expect the prince, heir to the throne, to be tutored from a young age in politics, etiquette, history, and more. It's not like an education is really so absurd. If Alexander has a particular charisma and talent for manipulation, is that really so absurd? On the other hand, there are absolutely things he struggles at. Alexander could not convince Ariston to join him. He could not free Lorelai from her plight. He could not convince Cassander to switch sides. And he has been forced to let crime after crime go unpunished because he lacks the werewithal to bring the guilty to justice. The game has been one unending tide of struggles for Alexander.
I'm a bit longwinded sometimes, but I think you see the point. Alexander is only "too perfect" by the bad criteria of an uncritical audience. If you actually think about it, he's perfectly realistic, even though this exact combination of traits is somewhat exceptional.
TL;DR Alexander is not "too perfect" because he's actually just exceptional, and the people who think otherwise are judging him by bad criteria.