I don’t know whether valve has violated anti-trust law or not, and I certainly don’t think gaben deserves any more protection from covid than the general public but;
this is a stupid ruling. Why on earth can’t he appear remotely, as he requested? They can’t “adequately assess his credibility”? Are they gonna have an FBI body language expert on hand? Check his forehead for sweat droplets? There’s nothing they can ask him in person that they can’t ask him over a camera.
Feels like the plaintiffs are doing some kind of lowkey spite thing here, and I’m surprised the judge played along.
I just finished it, then went back for the bonus side quests so I could get the true ending.
I wished the writing was less childish, but like you, I really enjoyed the texture of the characters. They really do Garl right. The original final bossfight is laughably easy if you’ve learned how to use Serai, but the “true ending” final boss is more fun. Overall I’m 4/5 on it.