BG1's companions most defenitly were not bland and stale. Alot had backstories or remarkable gear that set them apart from normal indivuals. Sure, not all of them were living bombs or whatnot but by BG 1's metrics they arent that remarkable imo. Your (likely) party in BG 1's early game was made of 2 god spawns. 2 harpers and 1 or 2 other individuals who were quite remarkable in their own way.
More grounded characters don't have to be "bland and stale", though... and as far as the most commonly picked party members in BG1 go: Neither do you find out that Imoen is a good spawn until the next game, it also has no bearing on the story that Kalid and Jahira are Harpers, or that Minsc and Daenahir are a Rashemi berserker and witch, respectively. As far as BG1's story is concearned, they are just your normal, low level adventuring party. The characters in BG3? Not so much... they are so frontloaded with special, game influencing traits, that the party most likely would implode in the first few evenings of any tabletop campaign.
