A handful of "normal" companions could be decent, but I like companions partly because they can have unique perspectives that I could never have and their ability to expand the world purely by existing. So a couple human companions that are like Fighter and Rogue could be nice to have, especially if they have a background that gives them that unique perspective, even if it is because they come from some place far away from Baldur's Gate or they have had run ins with the Zhentarim. But tbh I would love a large quantity of companions with a varied cast of races and classes with their own perspectives (even with some being shallow, heck shallow ones help the deeper ones shine even brighter but also gives people option to have less active party members), heck there are a bunch of NPCs that already exist that I would love to be able to recruit, although most all of them are unique in some way and therefor standout and I discussed them elsewhere. (Also I would love party size to increase to 6 so that we can play around with these companions.)
Also there is the misconception that Level 1 means the character is close to being a villager, but level 1 characters are typically people who have trained or have had a past of previous exploits that gave them the skills they have at level 1.
And in the case of Gale, he has a surprisingly good reason why he has basically been flung from level 20 to level 1 with his wizardry, and thus gives a weird perspective of a very knowledgeable archmage who can no longer do the feats he used to and has to relearn magecraft through combat. Similarly Wyll was separated from his patron who was likely directly helping him win his battles as The Blade of the Frontier, and now away from that he is a normal Warlock. Shadowheart we have no real indication of how strong of a cleric she was before but I posit being level 1 is in line with her. Similarly Laezel is an accomplished and veteran combatant but Level 1 fighter does indicate that and she displays these skills. And Astarion was a somewhat pampered noble who became a vampire and was used as a slave and is only a lowly spawn and therfor it matches that he is level 1, especially since the parasite has changed the rules for him.
