My problem with Harry Potter is how it started out as an interesting story with children main characters, then devolved into more standard YA fair.
I think this point about motivation is the main difference between BG 1 2 and 3, the Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 you picked up companions mostly because they were looking for muscle to help with a trivial quest, their motivations were straightforward usually quickly satisfied and lead to you gaining an ally for your own quest. The most memorable companions are the ones who had motivations that developed during your quest, mostly the romanceable ones who are given that much more narrative real estate.
In Baldur's Gate 3, we've been given a cast of characters with multiple motivations, and who clearly aren't willing to reveal everything upon joining the quest, people are acting like they have a good handle on what our companions' backstories and motivations are, but I personally don't know how much we've really been given, even from the glimmerings of intimacy we've gotten in the EA, though maybe there's that much datamined informing these criticisms.
