Things I don't like about the Tribunal (spoiler warning)

[Barristan]

Overall, except the ending, it's great.

Kortenear starts off the climax strong by telling the Hardie boys he's going to massacre them, shocking you with the realization that you're out of time and that it's all going down. This song that wouldn't be out of place in an old western film begins playing, invoking a 'High Noon' feel - setting up the eventual shootout that happens. Then there's some back and forth between the mercs and Lizzie before you and Kim are forced to intervene, running between the two groups in a fruitless attempt to stop a gunfight erupting.

Kortenear tells you to ♥♥♥♥ off, but of course Harrier Du Bois doesn't back down so easily (or does, depending on your choices). I like how there are multiple choices that make use of all base stats, instead of locking you out of fending for yourself adequately because you didn't put points in Motorics. This is also where earlier choices you made when speaking to certain characters come to play, giving bonuses to certain dialogue options which I also feel is a nice touch that adds some weight to what you decide to talk about instead of as a way to pass time (which unfortunately was the case for a handful of characters).

But, ultimately there's no way to end the Tribunal peacefully. Whether you yourself begin shooting or the mercs get tired of listen to you babble on, a gunfight does happen. Here's where one of my first problems with the Tribunal happen, in one of the possible ways this street shootout can begin there's a possible option to throw an item called a Spirit Bomb at Korty. This item is obtained by your Horrific Necktie speaking to you after you leave Ruby's Hideout and provided you have bought the bottle of spirits from one of the drunks in the Fishing Village. Basically, it's a firebomb you throw at Korty. If you don't have this item, you only have the option of shooting him.

I want to be more clear, I don't dislike that the only option is to start a fight - it seems reasonable to me that these mercs, these drunk mercs, would only be interested in blood for blood. However, the fact that Korty can shoot back at you later on in the ensuing fight with 'his face boiling off' is just plain idiotic. Okay, he can shoot me after I shoot him (the only choice you get if you don't have the spirit bomb to throw at him) he's an experienced soldier who was supposedly Oranjese special forces. He's also a built guy, would be believable he's durable. Fine, that makes sense. But with his ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ face, as the game puts it, boiling off his skull? His eyes are completely fine? Are you kidding me? I guess the devs just felt the spirit bomb being the best outcome for the Tribunal was just a tad too silly? If there was no different outcome, I wish it had been described differently though I would still probably be unsatisfied.

Also, a side note. Why don't Du Paule and Kortenear have automatic weapons, as everyone kept implying they did? At the showdown, they're armed with pistols. Ruud has his nock cannon, which makes sense but the other two show up with their sidearms. Why? I guess it's supposed to be attributed to the fact they're drunk?

Moving on, after Korty goes down, Ruud swings his rifle to his shoulder and takes a shot at you whilst Du Paule looks on in shock at her fallen superior. Depending on a Reaction Speed check or if you're wearing the Cuirass you can take off of Gary (idk what happens if you don't have either of these, I assume you die or just go down), you narrowly can avoid being shot. Kim meanwhile, ducks down and around you to fire back at Ruud. Being the Seolite stallion he is, he hits Ruud in the head straight through the eye slit - sending the mercenary down, with a series of inhuman gurgles and blood spurting out of his eye slits. Du Paule takes two shots at Kim but misses him, hitting Glen in the chest twice which he dies of soon after. The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with Korty happens, and you have no option to dodge or weather his shot at all. The Reaction Speed check you're presented with is Impossible and so it's your turn to hit the dirt.

You briefly lose consciousness, eventually opening your eyes to a world of black with jagged streaks of grey poking through. There's the piece of street you're lying on, blood pooling under you. There's the Hardie boys, Titus's voice giving the order to attack strangely clear above the ringing in your ears. There's Kim, pressing his hands down on your wounds to try and stop the blood pouring out of you. He's telling you to hold on, desperation in his voice, gloves soaked in crimson. Regrets, lies, half truths; they all spill out of your mouth, death's shadow is upon you.

A white angel descends onto the street, stepping behind Kim with her pistol raised to execute the detective. A warning claws it way up from your throat, and you find the strength to hand him your weapon. His trust in you as steady as the hand that had ended the life of Ruud, he raises the pistol above and behind him. The roar of black powder is quickly followed by Du Paule's scream, the last thing you hear before it finally, inevitably all goes dark.

I like this whole series of events. The Reaction Speed check being Impossible is a little aggravating, but I can see it being due to Harrier being older, a severe alcoholic, etc. He's let himself go, paying for it all at once. What follows is cathartic, a maelstrom of emotions finally being released as Harrier's life slips away from him. They all have their own individual options but one that stands out above all is the feeling of Regret. Harrier's ex-wife's voice in the background caps this off nicely, their separation and it's devastating impact on him accentuated here wonderfully, as he still longs for her even in death. Kim's desperation, his myopic focus on trying to stop you from dying adds tension to the scene. The whole 'main character about to die but it turns they don't really' trope actually works here, since depending on the choices you make, it's established that characters who seemed like they'd be around until the end of the game can die. It's a very well thought out sequence in (as mentioned before) a mostly great climax.

However, some details aren't described very well. One being Kim's struggle with Du Paule. Now going back to when he shot her, the game tells you that she screamed. This implies that Kim shot her in the face, since if he had her in the armor it wouldn't have done anything since you can find an analysis on the armor earlier on in the game that tells you it completely dissipates kinetic energy upon impact. Alright, so he hits her in the face and she goes down.

Another side note, what's up with that? Don't the Hardie boys have guns? Titus definitely does, an Ister 50 iirc. Theo is at least implied to, a Glace 30. The other's I'm not so sure about, Shanky only has a knife I think, Glen is supposed to have a nock cannon but since he doesn't have it at the Tribunal it's probably just him spouting off BS, Angus probably isn't carrying, Alain probably is but I couldn't find any mention and Eugene might, might not. Regardless, that's at least two guns. Why do they 'charge' as Kim tells you after you wake up? There's no mention of them firing the guns they're supposed to have, I found this to a very strange detail that I tried to not let bug me as Kim and I went off to solve the murder. Titus threatens to shoot anybody if the player selects the dialogue option that causes Shanky to run off, so he definitely still has his.

Backing up a tiny bit, the game says or at least implies that the Hardie boys charge as Du Paule steps up behind Kim to shoot him. So Du Paule goes down, Kim goes back to pressing down on your wounds assuming the Hardie boys will cover him? Or does he stop rendering aid and struggle with Du Paule on the ground? The game doesn't tell you, opting to fade to black but I really don't understand the decision making of some characters here. Especially Kim, who is supposed to be your second tutorial agent essentially. Kim just turns his back on an armed suspect who somehow instead of shooting him as she goes down, shoots Angus and Theo (plus Shanky if he doesn't run)? It's implied that he shot her, then disarmed her and finally shot her or beat her to death, as evident by the bruises on his face (how else could he have gotten them?). Despite Kim's best efforts however, Du Paule is able to kill two members of the Union wounded as she is. That's what I'm going to go with because I don't understand otherwise.

Then there's the issue of ammo. I couldn't find a reference to what gun Du Paule was carrying but I assume it's the same weapon as Korty had since it looks similar from what we can see, so it holds 8 shots. 2 kill Glen, then six are fired at a maximum potential 4 targets. Angus is said to have 'taken a lot of bullets' so that makes me think he takes the majority of the bullets so let's say 4. Theo dying from one shot is feasible since he's quite old, couldn't hold on till he got medical attention, okay. But Shanky dies from one bullet as well? He's relatively young, it wouldn't be unreasonable to say he could've survived this and if he got hit somewhere vital, Du Paule managed to hit him there after being shot in the face and struggling with Kim?

Korty doing it is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ enough but with him, it's at least somewhat believable. He's a big guy, durable, he has a second to collect himself. Du Paule meanwhile is given no quarter after being shot, presumably has Kim trying to take the gun off of her and multiple targets to aim at. If she had shot the Hardie boys before she goes to kill Kim, why doesn't Hardie shoot back? He just lets her reload and walk up behind Kim? Why?

If anyone else has an idea on what happened, please do share. Also, tell me your thoughts on the Tribunal; whether it sucks, it's great or you don't feel any particular way about it.

[Michael SE]

yes.!!!

[D-Black Catto]

yeah it is weird that they didn't have automatic weapons despite the story telling you they do. it's also weird the two of them didn't wear helmets. last but not least, it's weird there is no way to back off and let them fight it out.

overall I was really frustrated there and I can't say it was my favorite part of the game

[Profile name]

The whole scenario is completely unrealistic. But whatever, is a game.

Like, you not getting shot while you are still busy litting the molotov and successfully hitting the face of the merc (That could easily just slide to the side and dodge the flying bottle) is utterly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Him shotting back after getting hit is far less absurd than that, even considering that a flying glass bottle breaking into someone face would likely result in a full knockout.

In fact, the fire is actually the lesser problem in that situation. Human body is not that flamable, and aparently was just alcohol on the bottle. So definitively woudn't "melt" someone face.
You would actually need to use something like gasoline with styrofoam dissolved on it for it to be have that kind of effect, so, this way the material inside the bottle is flammable and sticks it on the surface that hits. Just pure alcohol would just splash around and make an fire that is actually quite easy to be putted out.

Also, the fact that my character shot him in the face and he didn't blackout, but then my character did get blackout for a shot in the thigh is also ridiculous.

But whatever, the whole scenario is completely unrealistic you start thinking about it too hard.

The thing I wish I could do in the tribunal, thought, is just wait for the mercenaries to start to shooting on the Hardie Boys and only then, taking advange of the surprise element and the fact that they are busy attacking the Hardie Boys, flanking them.

I don't know why Harrier is putting his life on the line for a bunch of gangsters that tempered the crime scene, obstructed the law and kept antagonizing him. You really gonna die because of a bunch of gangster that don't even remotely respect you?
Also, why the remaining Hardie Boys weren't arrested after the shooting? I get that is unrealistic to actually arrest someone like Evrart (Even though on the perfect world he would be arrested as well), but man, why not arrest at least some of the foot soldiers, that at the very least tempered a crime scene an obtructed the law by lying to the detectives?

Also, Kim ignored and didn't confiscate illegal drugs on at least 3 occasions that I am aware of it, and also didn't let you stop Cindy's vandalism and also did not let you confiscate some type of fuel that apparently civilians should not have access to it from her. But on the tribunal, then he demands you to intervene... Like oh, now you are magically worried about 'accomplice liability' (Or whatever the name is in English when a law enforcement officer ignores a crime happening). ♥♥♥♥ you buddy. xD