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.
This is very true. DOS2 I had the feeling that all companions were unaware of the existence of each other (save very few and rare occasions), only you, the player character seemed to be there with them. When I played Lonewolf with Lohse it was like the other companions never actually mattered in the end.
