In BG, companions weren't really standing out either.
Eh? All companions in BG2 had a quest line attached, some major, some minor, some EPIC even (Nalia quest is certainly not just a 20minute romp) and even leads you to a player home if you are playing it with certain classes. Cern quest has an entire 5+ hr druidic plot line attached... etc. etc. etc.
Circus (Aerie) is even introduced to you when you exit the dungeon, and a young boy approaches you and asks you to rescue his mother to further announce that this might be a quest player should be doing. So how can you possible say they didn't stand out?
Every single companion in BG2 had a reason of existence and purpose and place. None of them (aside from your starting crew) were simple pick-me-ups. And all of them had quests attached. Some even
very extensive ones.
Some stood out a bit more, some not as much. The thing was most of them were kindda shoved in your face like any other quest giver, up until the point you realized you could ask them to join. They were both designed to be companions and quest givers, the player's choice as to what they would be.
I think Dr Koin was refering to the first BG though. I know for a fact he never really played BG2, he couldn't handle it.
Now don't get me wrong. BG2 is the pinnacle of RPG and D:OS does not have the funds to ever approach it...
I disagree, and boy did I love BG2 but it had huge flaws that reminiscing tend to overlook, the first one being the most of idiotic instant gameover if your main character got knocked out, the second one being droping you off in the capital city straight off the bat with just a vague to inexistant notion of what was going on. Now get out there and be somebody. Get murdered along the way. A lot. The original Fallout handled that in a much better way.
D:OS can do great with the budget it has. Most of it will come from the writing and the quest design. DII: DKS was amazing in both fields, and Jake's murder investigation is a nice piece of work. I would argue I'm a little disappointed that you can't actually fail to solve the murder, but that's mostly due to the fact that it is related to the main quest.
