I am inclined to be even more cynical and say their intent is ultimately to release only evil or neutral companions, with just one TOKEN good companion who, because he is high-profile, makes people feel (falsely) like there is balance between the evil and good sides.
Bottom line for me: if my choices are playing with an evil party or playing with a custom party (with no personality or say about anything), then I will do neither and simply not play at all, because both those options are equally intolerable and unacceptable to me.
I do hope you get companions that you like, but I can say for me that having neutral/evil companions is a refreshing and needed change. Most of the games I play with companions/followers assume that you will be good or neutralish good no matter how much you find it ridiculous in certain circumstances.
I see them as mostly separate entities too, but usually people tend to take along companions with similar views to their own character. They did say that they wanted the evil route tested and also that they were releasing the not good companions first so it seems they assumed this connection as well.
Writing evil companions is probably a similar skill as writing an evil storyline. At the very least, evil storylines contain evil NPCs, which means you have to write evil characters for both. In each, you have to balance 'evilness' while still making the companion/storyline enjoyable. The problem with Larian's evil path is that there is little reason to join Minthara besides liking murder and sex. One big worry Larian probably had is that it'd be too off-putting and no one would want to play it.
A possible problem with evil companions is that they'd be too over-the-top cartoonishly evil, where their entire goals were murder. Or act like jerks and no one would want them in their party.
They should recruit people who tend to play neutral or evil in games to help them rather than assuming it means murdering everything. More people play the not so good path in games than is often thought (or admitted). I agree with you about the current evil path, it is like they thought only horny preteens and people who think evil must be stupid would take that route. I am definitely glad they don't have the stupid cartoon evil so far with these companions. That crap needs to stay in the past where it belongs.
Minsc will be interesting for me as a test of how Larian will rework an old character because I never really liked him that much in the originals.
Will they manage to turn him into a character I can be interested in or amp up his memetic factor and make it completely insufferable for me?
I found him completely ridiculous and insufferable from the little I played of BG1. Even when I started as chaotic good (I usually play neutral). I hope for those who like him that they keep him as they remember, but he will be one character that will never ever be in my party.
