are the companions actually likable or at least are there a variety of them for evil/good players?
There's quite the variety of them. 11 to be exact. All with wildly different priorities, but the game's writing somehow makes it very plausible that they're all working together in a hellscape, even if they have entirely different agendas. Some companions are really deep, but it's rather subtle at it.
Like the Hellknight Regill, who is probably the absolute best representation of a Lawful Evil companion I've ever seen thus far. I came into the beta thinking I would HATE him, but now he's actually one of my favorite companions. At first glance he's a typical authoritative stormtrooper, but it turns out that's not a very accurate assessment of what he actually is, for it becomes clear throughout the game that he leans way more into his pragmatic side instead of wielding his authority just for the sake of being an asshole. Even though he definitely can, he knows the value of restraint, especially when it comes to holding back to learn as much as he can from an enemy commander before he'll completely kick their ass anyway. His introduction DOES involve killing injured comrades who he would view as stragglers... But given the situation he is in, it makes sense, for staying back in an attempt to defend and save them would have resulted in some of the remaining capable fighters falling under the same fate, if not his entire regiment being lost.
The other companion I thought I would hate, Daeran, is... Well, for a lack of a better description, he's basically what Astarion would be like if he was born into a major noble house wielding massive political influence, had a super tragic event happen in his childhood that basically changed his outlook on the meaning of life forever, and yet still manages to have some sense of actual standards deep beneath all the hedonism and cynicism - more astute people will notice he does not punch down when he goes out of his way to insult people, he only ever seems to go after people with authority that he perhaps believes aren't deserving of it. (Hence why Daeran is neutral evil rather than full on chaotic evil like Astarion appears to be. And he basically starts off as being a pure healer, yet he uses his talents and his noble status to figure out what makes people tick, so to speak.) Compare him to the other noble, Camelia (in which she would be... extreme spoilers to elaborate even further), and it's pretty much night and day.
There's also Greybor, who by contrast is an Assassin, but otherwise he's actually a rather normal dwarven father making a living out of professional contract killing in order to provide for his family. Well, comparatively normal in the context of the rest of the party, at least. The rest of the party tends to make their jobs and backgrounds/characteristics a core part of their identity. Greybor stands out because he doesn't, outside of a serious sense of professionalism that comes with his job.
The thing that really sets WotR's companions apart, even if they aren't as openly deep or philosophical as the likes of BG3, is that you get a good sense of what they are through very indirect means. And by that, I mean lots and lots of party banter. And they will often respond to each other, instead of only reacting to the player character. In the game's hub areas throughout the chapters, you often see the companions positioned in places that make sense given their personalities and backstories, like Sosiel painting at various locales depending on the time of day, Greybor brooding in a corner of the tavern awaiting new contracts, Seelah training new recruits, and so on.
Some of their companion quests also don't actually feature anything related to violence at all (compared to something like DOS2 where you basically shanked someone every step of the way for every companion), which would be very surprising given the game's setting and overall themes. Chapter 3 of WotR in particular is pretty much 60% companion quests and 40% main quest, with one companion even getting three quests in there.
Someone could literally make a very in-depth relationship chart between the WotR companions, and it would actually be a lot more complex than just pairing the companions with similar alignment. For one, make a note of which party members insult Ember, and who otherwise leave her alone or even respect her. The results are not what most people would expect if you are going off of the alignment wheel alone, and it's a very subtle way of adding depth to each companion.
The companions are pretty much the only thing WotR has going for it story wise. Don't get me wrong, it's a big deal and they are the best cast I've seen in years in a RPG, but it's a shame they are stuck in such a bad story.
