It says a lot to me that one of the most 'normal' companions right now is the Githyanki, because in all things except for her current circumstance with the tadpole, she's pretty much a completely normal Githyanki. BGIII is really missing out on having some more 'normal' companions. The Anomens and Nalias etc to balance out the characters with crazy backstories and/or personalities like Edwin and Minsc.
But that ties into a greater apprehension I have with the game. You compared it to Michael Bay & Guardians of the Galaxy. And while I absolutely adore so much of the game, I have to agree there. There's too much high stakes, too many big names-mindflayers, jergal, the nine hells, githyanki, the dead three, shar, selune, etc etc getting thrown at us right at the beginning. We aren't even half way through act I and we can already fight mindflayers, drow, githyanki, and a frickin *adamantine golem* The game has no chill, no patience. Plenty of other D&D games have had absurdly high stakes before, but they usually had the sense to build up to them up. I fear this is all too much for one game, and introduced at too much of a breakneck speed as well.
I'm absolutely loving the characters and their interactions, and the amount of intricacy Larian has built into some character interactions, quests, giving players chances to think outside the box etc, but the overall plot? That has me worried. The super special status of all of our companions is a bit offputting, their endearing personalities and interactions aside.
I think it's way too late for Larian to reverse course on a lot of the decisions they have made at this point since they are firmly woven into the dna of the game by now, but I do hope they at least consider moderating some of the excesses. I don't want to feel like I'm playing through three Realm-Shaking-Events simultaneously over the course of a single game, and I'd really appreciate some more normal party members later in the game.
