Thank you for this. I think you've articulated my own thoughts on why I enjoy these companions much better than I could have.
In regards to the custom character - I'm okay with Larian keeping our custom characters backstories as mostly a blank slate. My hope is that we'd see effort put into giving the custom PC unique opportunities to express their identities (e.g. scenes/content not available to the origin characters).
I basically agree 100% with your assessment of the companions. I also like Astarion the least of the bunch, but I do think that he presents an interesting exploration of the theme you've identified. He is the one character that has uniquely gone through the dance of identity and power twice.
Also agree with the sense of time being an issue. Tying important narrative components to long rests seems to directly conflict with the urgency the plot instills in you. I personally would've loved to have a day/night cycle, more so from a gameplay/mechanical standpoint, but I do understand why Larian doesn't want to implement it since that would cause problems with the way they've structured the narrative.
