I mentioned before companions are a great way to change up the story having companions replace different companions depending on what route you took. Like Minthra vs will. Kagha vs Helsin ect. Depending what route you wanted to take there are plenty of ways to diversify those options and plenty of options present even in just the beginning aspect of the game.
Mercs though are a big interesting point for people who do want to develop a fully fleshed out party however I do think the 6 character system sits better for this as it allows you to min max your party fitting in 1-2 companions to fill niche roles while still keeping a party build closer to a design setup for a power player you may desire.
@CJMPinger there are plenty of companion options for them to expand all the way up to 1 companion from each of the 12 base classes getting most in the beginning of the game the others could easily be worked in shortly after.
Minthra vs Shadowheart Helsin vs Kahga
There are plenty of ways to mix and match those characters with story plots to make for a story that fits for the party that people want. While keeping companions suited to fit the group in the way they feel they would like. There are plenty of great ways they could tie in different choices affecting companions leaving or joining into the same story arch. Creating interesting ways the game could be replayed to a different story arch / conclusion based on actions. Would but a final product much further off as you would need to kind of do a different ending somewhat for each character based on how you played out the story. But to an extent that could be left on the edge giving them time to toy with that more down the road. However that division in how parties / characters group join and play out creates inpact in choices ect. Also having characters have there own conclusive story line and unique traits that make them in someways better than the options you have from character creation for npcs also can impact this like for example by Asterion having a bite attack / vampire like powers in some ways makes him slightly better than a mercenary character while not being built to a players design. Doing similar things for all the characters gives them a unique flavor and a reason to choose them over a merc designed character. There are dozens of ways they can play with that interaction.
