Originally Posted by Seraphael
I found Pathfinder and their companions rather dull. Both Amiri and Valerie, for instance, are fundamentally stunning and brave (TM) feminist tropes subverting the oppressive norms of the patriarchy. The blatant forced ideology was unimmersive and made me less receptive for their actual personality. The Pathfinder companions generally felt like stereotypical caricatures, whereas Baldur's Gate 3's companions are diametrical opposites; edgelords tryharding to be unique all at once, all too soon. The individual uniqueness may feel a bit lost in a forest of uniqueness, and I think the companion roster would be better balanced with the inclusion of companions that are more straightforward - without making them boring. But the companions that we know are yet to be implemented; a "devil holy warrior" and a "howling bard", sounds like more of the same I must admit. Overly complex super special edgelords, that leaves me believe Larian isn't really considering how well the companions can contrast yet still harmonize.

I generally liked the Pathfinder companions and I think you're doing Valerie in particular a disservice in your descriptions, and are letting surface level judgements blind you to the rest of their story. Amiri is the closest to being what you describe, I grant you, but I don't see how it's forced ideology in the slightest. If anything I would say it's the opposite and she's dealing with expectations that make perfect sense as existing within the setting. But with Valerie specifically, sure the idea of patriarchy is definitely a thing in the background, but it's very much not the main point of it. I would say that it's jut an inevetable reading that comes across as a result of her plot talking about beauty and expectations placed upon her as a result.

For starters with Valerie, her story is more the "chosen one rejecting their calling" trope. It's heavily implied that she is actually either chosen or at least actively touched by the goddess in question. She rejects the expectations put on her, but she's frankly a dick about it a lot of the time, and a little hypocritical. And that is explicitly a character flaw she has to get over throughout the story. And the attention from men she has to deal with is somewhat exagerated, but even in-universe it's noted as being over the top from what a normal woman could expect. And it's an exagerated version of interactions that are present and totally logical within the universe.

Amiri and Valerie aren't my favorite companions from Kingmaker (I find her story very interesting but I actually don't really like Valerie as a person) but I think they have a meaningful amount of depth and neither of them are bland. In my opinion anyway. You're not required to like them and I'm not gonna try any harder to convince you, but I wanted to give my perspective on them and on your reasononing.