The problem isn't the amount of characters, but the quality of their character. I don't really like any of the companions, and I downright loathe some of them. Shadowheart is interesting, but she doesn't exactly start off likeable. Astarion, Gale and La'ezel can all go take a hike. I really miss likable friendly characters that I'd enjoy the company of; some which doesn't feel like a struggle to be friendly with or having to tolerate weird personality quirks. Where are Edér, Sagani, Garrus, HK47, Kreia, Morrigan, Allistair, Jan Jansen, Leliana, Varric, etc. etc. The RPG games are brimming with really good NPC's but I haven't seen anyone in BG3 I like. I think I'll come around to Shadowheart as we get further into the chapters, but it's definitively the lowest point about BG3 for me.
I find your list of companions here quite interesting. I'm not familiar with all of them, but Kreia and Morrigan at least seem to be cut from the same cloth as Shadowheart, or rather she's cut from the same cloth as them. Kreia is very critical of your character and Morrigan isn't exactly forthcoming early on either. Also Gale is actually very friendly out of the gate and he consistently approves of you helping people. Maybe he approves because he just thinks it means you'll help him, but he's generally agreeable. I also found Wyll to be someone that they at least think will beeasy to like. But I can definitely see his personality being a bit...much, for people.
