Don't get me wrong, I played all those same games in the 90s / 00s and loved them, but that's just not where games are anymore, and there's just not much of a market for it. Personally I think it's all for the better, and would MUCH rather have 4-6 fully developed companions then 20+ who I barely care about and a dozen of which I will never even use. /shrug
In POE you had 8 companions in basic game and then 3more in the expansion. In POE 2 you had 7 companions and then 6 sidekicks which are not as fleshed out but still there to give you the variety. Also you had 5 party members. And in another recent RPG that is seen as a child of the D&D and BG you have Pathfinder: Kingmaker where you have 12 companions (or thirteen depending on how you count) and 6 slots for your party. Something this game is lacking, to properly honor the heritage of BG 1 & 2 so do I think they at minimum need to get up to 5 companions but I would prefer 6.
