I seem to like the 5 principle characters based almost entirely on the first impression and their initial presentation. I find it maddening for that reason, where Larian has backtracked on this to make their existing characters more palatable, when they should instead be offering new characters.
For example, I like Lae'zel because she is "haughty, condescending in the extreme, has a superiority complex a mile high [...] never treats the player character with anything even approaching basic decency or respect" and add to that being generally sour and dismissive of everyone, xenophobic, fanatical, 'twice as ugly' by the general standards etc.
I like that she has her own belicose lietmotif, which is established during the opening trailer (using that Wojciech Kilar rip-off, reminiscent of the opening sequence to Coppola's Dracula) and then again during her introduction on the Nautiloid, which was stronger prior to patch 6. I also like that her first reaction to me is to scowl and call me an abomination, then threaten to end me. Essentially a perfect one note Gith fighter trope.
When Larian changes this stuff to make her softer, give her more depth or layering at the outset, or because they think doing so will make her a 'better companion' to satisfy the various people who griped that none of the companions were 'friendly enough', I find that pretty frustrating. Lae'zel does't want to be our friend. She tells us as much verbatim when pressed, just in case there was any confusion on our part.
The first impression is usually a zero sum game. If someone doesn't like Lae'zel's character, the better solution in an RPG is to offer a different companion character, as an alternative fighter who fits the other bill better, not to change Lae'zel.
The same will hold for each of these 5 characters. They are all 2 dimensional, and I'm sure they will all have their fans based on whichever 2 dimensions the player finds most amusing or endearing in a crpg one note. Larian's principle failing here is to think that they can cover all their bases with a fab 5. That's just woefully inadequate. You can barely get there with a fab 15, and even then you're going to swing and miss more than half the time.
They should not have opened like this almost exclusively with their grey characters, or 'their villains' or their 'evil path' companion NPCs, whatever they're meant to be from Larian's cryptic promos. That just assumes way too much discernment on the part of the goody goody and redemption favoring audience to hold up for a year. Most players want to be heroes, not villains. And for those who do want to play villains, not having any heroes for the point of contrast just diminishes that experience too.
The ready solution is not to bank so hard on developed characters and instead provide more variety and greater extremes. Most of the initial reactions can probably be reduced to 'I like character X, because I find their model/voice attractive' for either predictable or peculiar reasons, and that impression carries or falls based on superficial quick read reasons.
It's only because we're being forced to roll with such a light crew that half these characters even get the time of day. From a telemetry type standpoint they should have caste a wider net first, then developed the characters further based on which first impressions were drawing the strongest responses. In other words taking an additive approach to continued characterization rather than a transformative one.
Interesting response in regards to Larian's character development. I'm curious to know which characters do you like or not based on what has been shown to you so far.
