I feel like Larian is afraid to make a special or "chosen one" main character because of the trope that many RPGs fall in. That being said, the MC doesn't need to be like the inquisitor from DA:I where they are fundamentally linked to the antagonist. But more like Hawke or The Warden where they are just people with a strong force of will. Hawke is literally just a dude, and yet every person he interacts with in DA2 is changed by his presence. I guess my biggest problem is that origin characters not only get a story unique to them, but also take from the main story as well.
Going to add that the origin system also inherently forces the writing around each character to center around ridiculously wild backgrounds, in order to incentivize playing as them via the origin system. So not only does the system take away from the development of custom characters, but from a narrative standpoint, it feels like each companion exists in their own bubble and they are all constantly fighting for your attention rather than interacting with each other as a cohesive group.
Admittedly, I think a lot of what I am trying to say isn't very clear to most observers here just yet, as I am typing from the standpoint of someone who has participated in WotR beta. The entire cast of companions there are not afraid to call each other out or add their own quips during banter, let alone you. It also completely lacks the whole 'X approves/disapproves' mechanic, because they would rather tell you to your face if they disagree or directly back you up if they agree. Not to mention that the lack of this mechanic means you're not pressured into buttering them up, in which doing so would have a subtle undermining effect on your own and the companion's characterization for the sake of gaming the system. But that's another topic entirely.
There is a reason I genuinely believe that WotR is absolutely going to set a new standard in how party members are written, especially in a game with a custom main character. The standard that DA2 should have set in hindsight if the game wasn't so rushed out the gate that the entire gaming community at the time couldn't focus on anything but the bad aspects of it, turning it into one of the games with the biggest wasted potential ever. The same way that I genuinely believe that DOS2 is setting a new standard in the design of turn-based tactical RPGs in regards to environmental manipulation, that we are now beginning to see with games like the upcoming Triangle Strategy. And WotR is a big contributing factor in retroactively instilling within me a seething hatred of the origin system, as I don't believe its positives are worth anywhere near the wasted potential in other categories.
