Yeah, as far as we know, Minsc, Helia, and Karlach will be the 'good' companions (although the lot we have already includes Wyll and Gale, who already lean in that direction) So you will have a total eight companion options in BG III, or seven if you play an origin.
Personally, I'd prefer more. While it's true that other rpgs make do with less, BGIII seems to encourage a playstyle that results in a high turnover of party members right now, what with the way you can lose party members left, right and center if you play your cards wrong (anger gale, let Lae'zel go off alone to the Githyanki, side with the goblins, let the hunter take Asterion, etc) Plus the planned party member 'funnel' we know about at the end of act I where we get stuck with whatever party comp we have.
Plus, there's no redundancy in regards to certain iconic classes/roles. If you lose Asterion, that's it-no more rogues. Similarly, there's no understudy for Gale, so if you lose him, there's no more wizards, or even a sorcerer, to fill the role of arcane spallcaster. And no cleric alternative for Shadowheart.
There's a reduced party size in BG III over the other BG games too, so the choice of party comp feels very constrained. If you go to fill the archetypical roles first (bruiser, arcane caster, divine caster, sneaky one) your composition will end up looking pretty similar afaik. Maybe you'll switch out Lae'zel/Minsc/Karlach, but with four slots, your party will end up looking very similar, I think.
And in the department of personal taste, I don't particularly like how so many of the companions are already written almost like superheroes. Gale is an archwizard and ex chosen (and lover?) of Mystra, Karlach is Zariel's champion, who went toe-to-toe with demon lords, Wyll's is persona is almost *literally* a superhero. Everyone feels like a protagonist, because everyone was written as one, and I'm not super crazy about that. I'd like some more grounded party members.
Its also very human-heavy in terms of party members right now. Gale + Minsc + Wyll makes three out of eight, almost half. Several races are completely unrepresented, which is sad. Notably, we have no Dwarf party members, no drow, no gnome, no half-orc or dragonborn. Dwarf being absent among options I think is particularly surprising.
So to conclude, I do think we need more companions. Some non-origin ones preferably. I'd personally support another rogue-type along with a divine caster and another arcane caster (possibly a sorcerer) as options. And preferably *not* human. Several npcs we have met would make good candidates, like Barcus or Minthara, but IDK...Larian seems pretty married to the idea of the Origins companions.
