<The characters in this story feel too much like modern day, Covid-19 era, rude and crude earthlings.>
Yea that basically sums it up for me. Doesn't feel like your in a gritty Faerun high fanstasy setting; like all the characters are modern drama cosplayers from some <westworld> town in the USA.
yeah but everything evolves and maybe when you are a child the characters in BG1-2 seem amazing and deep but then you grow up and you realize how shallow and simplistic they really are.
Because that's the key to universal likability in terms of writing. You make the characters as shallow as possible, or have them follow archetypes and then allow the reader to superimpose themselves onto the character. Its why Twilight was so popular, the main character was devoid of any actual personality or opinions.
And that's fine, its less of a risk for sure. What Larian is doing with these characters is the greater risk, and to some extent I think its a mistake. I don't think people are ready for this level of realism. Its why most people don't like Art. Art is work. Harry Potter is easy, Infinite Jest isn't.
Shadowheart, Gale, Lae'zel and Wyll are more like regular people. They have problems. They are at times unlikable. They have their own motivations you have to deal with. You can't always trust what they say. Gale has a stupid mustache, and you have to try and watch him say things with his dumb face and not punch him.
Astarion is the most "go with the flow" option. As long as SOMETHING is dying he doesn't care much.
Compared to Minsc who is a simpleton - "You point, I punch!"
Eeeeh, Idk man. To some extent you're right. Characters in BG2 were a bit simpler (Not all of them. Minsc being the most popular among them kinda proves your point though.) But they did follow you mostly cause you were the child of bhaal. They had a loose reason to be with you.
>>> Here having your companions with you cause you're all screwed and have no other choice would be 100% more interesting for me me but the absolute lack of "general" backstory for the PC is just so strange. And that's my main point.<<
I had the same problem in DOS2. I want to create my own character and all but If I do it he will have 0 anchor in the world apart from being one of those who got kidnapped or one of those with the tadpole.
I don't think it's anywhere close about "realism" or characters being " too deep". For now the only motivation of shadowheart seems to be pretending she's very selfish and very "evil" by harassing you of nowhere for no reason + finding a cure to the tadpole. And eventually she sleeps with you if you gather enought " Shadowheart approves" options. Like come on. Shaowheart is really the #1 offender in this category. It's just insane.
They don't care that much about other party members, they seem to focus 100% on the PC altough the PC is literally the only guy who doesn't give any reason to think he's a threat. He doesn't even talk about his past that they could dislike because he doesn't have one if you don't play one of the origin characters. Shadowheart talks about leaving if you don't change your ways of doing once and we all know it won't happen since apparently after ACT I our party composition is set in stone.
How is that realistic? Compare this to a plane crash on an tropical Island( that's literally what happens to us). Would the guys around you behave like 15 years old? Even if they were from Yakuza? Come on).
Small description of how this compares to BG2:
You took Minsc as an example but take Viconia or Edwin. Viconia felt she owed you something(you saved her life), was attracted to your power ( cause drow + evil ) but on the same time wouldn't stand your presence if you were way too nice to everyone. She was a drow trying to make her life on the surface despite the odds. She was " evil" deep down but that's not the only motivation she had. Not speaking about actually having an opinion about most of the things happenning around her based on your decisions. Opinion she would share straight away and eventually leave if she had enought of your "let's save the world" bs.
Edwin had more straightforward reasons, he hoped to become more powerful in your presence( and was right) but had his small mental issues to make him a bit more interesting and could eventually start a fight with Minsc over Dynaheir if you had Aerie in your party(Minsc takes Aerie as a substitute for Dynaheir). He also seen you help the thief guild he was working with so he had reasonable reasons to trust you. Not speaking about Edwin's quest....like his identity issues went a bit further than expected didn't they.
Yoshimo was a interesting too with his very calm and analytic approach, his issues he wouldn't talk about until he eventually shows you his backstory in the least expected moment. He was probably the closest to a shallow character in terms of backstory but had quite intereseting opinions after me.
Khorgan was the closest to shadowheart. He was just a son of a bitch and you had to literally pay him to rejoin you if you did something he disliked like giving money to a beggar in the street. He was literally the opposite of Minsc an 100% over the top for 0 reason apart from being like this cause " he's evil". Still to some extent he had something to earn by your presence and as long as you didn't piss him off too much it made sense for him to be with you.
Don't remember his quest or his interactions. Played with him only once in my playthroughs.
TLDR:
Now.... How are interactions in BG3 more realistic and deep compared to BG2? I don't think they are. Mostly due to the current structure of the game( companions can't leave us and look for the cure themselves cause where would they go?), the PC character not having at least one distinctive characteristic compared to other characters and them ignoring 100% of the world around them apart from the PC.
Those 3 things are just annoying to me with the 3rd +2nd point being the main offenders.
At no point is it about "writing choices" or anything like this. I can like or dislike a character, a story the devs try to tell and still enjoy it. I can hate Astarion at 100% and disagree with everything he has to say and still keep him in the party cause at least he's the guy who reacts the most to what's happening around.
The same way I hated Edwin and still had him in the party and kept him with me just to make in-party interactions more interesting.
