Well I guess I don't know what people might accept these days, but I think a comparison to BG1 is always worthwhile exploring. Part of worked well in that game was the companions felt like part of the story, or a natural outgrowth of the story, and not like THE story itself. It was kinda nice that the companions in BG1 were rather blank slated archetypes, similar to Charname as the protagonist, so the player could project the story onto them. Rather than having the NPC companions dictate the beats of the story. I was always more inclined to take the BG1 NPCs along for the ride, but it's not like we need a whole massive library of voiced dialog and cut-scened camp material for a simple character to still carry. They could put more work into him sure, but honestly I'd be happy even with what he is now, while they build that all out.
The 5 origins already feel kinda tired. Why can't we have more of these rando NPCs from act 1 like B-tier mercs? At least it would do something to spice up the EA, with some more party comps and char builds on display. I sometimes think the EA would be more entertaining if it was more about throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Just having 1 companion per class seems way light to me, even for an Early Access thing. Why not just go more grab bag with it? Like maybe the player doesn't want to play their MC as a druid necessarily, but might still get a chance to see what Druids can do with Halsin or Kagha or some other druid companion. Right now I think they are too reliant on the force of personality with these 5 main origins to showcase the available classes. We need a couple more regular old Brawlers and acquisitive Rogue type companions milling about too, but if they threw a druid our way I wouldn't complain. There should be a dozen potential companions by the time we get to act 2 at least. That'd be my preference. They don't all have to be winners, just give a bigger spread.
First I want to say there is value in what you're saying in regards to bg1 companions, and while personally I don't find the idea appealing, I see where you're coming from. If just giving Halsin a companion status without putting much extra work into him is an idea you find satisfying, while I disagree, I am not opposed to it.
I also think there is a difference between companions that are good support for the narrative and companions that take over the narrative. I would say even someone like DAO Alistair still belongs to the former rather than the later imo.
Why I don't think they'll go there when it comes to your idea - I think Larian aspires to make a story driven RPG rather than a dungeon crawler, and you can deny it of you like, but I think bg2 as a story driven RPG is an improvement over bg1 when it comes to companions writing. I don't think they'll go back just because there is some
Btw, pillars of eternity 2 did pretty much exactly what you're suggesting with the sidekick system, and I don't know about you but I felt like it's a waste of resources and never used it, but I don't think it really hurt the game in a significant way so why not.
