IMO role playing is creating a character that brings-to-life a vision that inspires you. If a player can't find a subclass that does that then no amount of player agency, cinematics, or story elements will compensate.
Limiting the subclasses to the PHB is a pretty lame goal.
+1
So where should the limit be drawn then in accordance to development time and costs etc?
For example, fewer companions = less glowing hair (unfortunately I couldn't resist the dig at Patch 8), fewer dialogues = fewer translations, etc. Another post already pointed out that there are also "good companions". Hopefully mostly finished... Overall, I would have preferred all (sub)classes + a revamped reaction system to be added first and additional fully animated and voiced companions as DLCs later, rather than apparently the other way around. Larian can also give it his own brand of scent and not just be a PHB copycat...
(A neutral example because it does not come from the gaming industry: Disturbed did a good job covering "Sound of Silence" with their distinctive metal style. So they not only covered very well, but also added their own style.)
Offtopic: Not able to editing former comments is annoying. Hence my Top 5 subclasses.
Alchemist
Arcane Archer
Echo Knight (and or Raven Knight)
Hexblade
Ancestral Guardian
Right now I can replace desired class combos like Cleric / Alchemist with very similar ones like Cleric / Wizard and almost makeshift all of my future class combos with existing core classes except Echo Knight / Hexblade. I cannot replace the special game mechanics with the missing "Echo". I hope Larian doesn't just limit his own potential to just the PHB, visuals and associated workload for new companions I mentioned...
