I took some time today and created a mod to remedy this problem, called "Shapeshifting Origin Tags" (no idea what else to call it, haha). Basically I made it so origins tags are preserved when shapeshifting, and you can now talk to companions while they're shapeshifted. Reflection and party decision dialog should work for them too now, though I haven't tested that personally.
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Steam WorkshopNexus Thank you! This is pretty neat, I'll see how it works.
Tags are removed when shapeshifted because it wouldn't make sense that most NPCs would still recognize the character, etc.
This was actually brought up shortly after release, but modifying the design so it would allow party dialogues, etc, when in another form (but not other types of polymorph, like chicken) and continue to work properly for NPCs (all dialogues function properly that use the changes to the tag system) isn't an easy/safe task, but expect some changes in a future update.
I did consider that it might be an issue in regards to the game itself, so I recognize this might be difficult to solve. I understand the reasoning behind it, but it comes with the risk of missing out on unique dialogue and quest triggers, which the player may not even realize. I think this overshadows the issues you mentioned, but I'm looking forward to seeing how you change it though.
