I think the comparison to bg1 is completely unfair, since the companions in bg1 were little more than blank NPC with few punch lines. The companions in bg2 were much much better, but still I don't think there was as much work invested in them as in the companions in bg3. And I also really think that more is not necessarily better. I prefer quality over quantity every time
Na. All the companions in Baldurs gate 1 had a few dialogues and at least one quest dedicated to them. And the budget probably was way lower that was goes into today video game. Companions in Baldurs' gate 2 usually had one quest as well, way more dialogue, and that didn't even include the romance that were pages and pages long. They also had banter between them.
