While I will be buying and playing come full release, can't say I'm all that impressed with the NPCs we've seen up to this point. I intend to give them all a go (as I did with BG and BG2)...except Astarion. The Renaissance aesthetic throughout what we've seen thus far disgusts me (I detest the look, both actual and fictionalized Renaissance) and Astarion, unfortunately, seems to exemplify that style. I plan to do what I normally do to NPCs I loathe in the BG series...Ctrl + Y gib them so they're gone for good (if such an option will exist for BG3). An overreaction to a simple aesthetic I suppose, but I truly do utterly despise it.
Overall, what I find objectionable to the NPCs is they seem wildly too contemporary in personality. Rather than appearing to fit in the fantasy world they're in, they seem to be more akin to people you might know today (minus all the fantastic powers and whatnot obviously lol). Now I don't expect them to speak in "ye olde Englishe" and other such tropes like every dwarf has a Scottish accent, but the flavor is lacking (using terminology of the setting, expressions of excitement and frustration that are more fitting with the world they're in). Frankly they don't strike me as Forgotten Realms NPCs...they strike me more as enthusiastic cosplayers.
I'm still gonna buy and play this, but I gotta say, I've yet to see much to allay my doubts Larian can do this title justice.
I agree with that. I see that many people are concerned about environment color palette but I'm more concerned about companions (especially how big they were in BG2). At the moment I don't really like any of them, they don't seem fit for some "epicness", more like fantasy millenial blog. Of course we've only seen fragments but general design probably will stay. I hope they will introduce some great indviduals fitted deeply in fantasy world.
