BG 1 and 2 had a fair share of what I consider to be awful companions, but fortunately it did balance those out with others who were not so bad, simply because of the sheer volume of companions there were. I still would not cite it as an example of a game with grounded companions though, its companions are nowhere near as grounded as those in other RPGs.
Well, BGs had fairly basic and one note companions, but it’s understandable considering how companions were made at that time - in BG1 they are little more then pre-made NPC. Having simple personality that can be conveyed through barks was a must.
Planescape brought companions to another level when it comes to integration into narrative, depth and interactivity and BG2 seemed to want a bit of that. I like Minsc very much, but in BG2 is far more limited then other companions who got more development.
The challenge with more complex characters is that they need to be more complex. I seem to be one of he few who disliked Dragon Age Origins for that - while there was a lot of companion dialogues, companions themselves were rather basic. It also didn’t help that companions seemed to over stress what they approve of and what they like to accommodate “the relationship” mechanic. Take a drink every time Morigan said how much she wants “powerrr” and you will end up hospitalised.
To a lesser degree I felt that with BG3 characters - they are still designed to be “understood” within seconds of meeting them. And by design - afterall as origins we need to be able to skim through them and get what each one of them is about. But that’s makes talking to them less interesting. While there are backstories to discover, we more or less know what each one is about from the get go. Still, I must say I didn’t have a bad time with them (aside from vampire douche), though it is unlikely any of them will end up particularly memorable.
