I don't think they have necessarily. We have the Sharran priestess that fits the mold. But Wyll is never presented as evil. He's presented as a somewhat naive man who made a deal with a devil in a moment of emotional weakness that he regrets and wants out of. You could say that that's a cliche arhcetype, but it's certainly a different cliche. We don't know anything about the werewolf yet so we can't judge her story on any level really. Lae'zel is evil and honestly, she's just evil in a very plain, open way. Same goes for Astarion. He's got a sympathetic backstory, but he's clearly cruel and sadistic now, whatever he was like before it all.
Sure. And I agree with all of your characterizations here. I guess the difference between us is whereas you see these differences among the characters as significant/meaningful, I don't see *enough* differences here that separates the base characters from each other in a significant/meaningful way. Reduce them to their base nature and they're pretty much the same (to me). To be quite honest, I feel that ultimately (and perhaps ironically) Lae'zel is the only one among the first five who is a well-written unique character.
But I will add this one thing aimed at you: I appreciate very much your attempt to at least try to honestly understand my point and sincerely try to engage in a discussion with me on it.
I do disagree with you overall, but if the issue is that you don't feel a satisfactory difference between the characters, well that's not something you can be talked out of, nor should I be trying to do so. It just means that the characters aren't your cup of tea, which is fine. And on your last point, you're welcome, understanding other people's points is what makes discussions like these fun. This is a game, there's no need to get too uptight about discussing it.
And this is another point. I've been playing Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and am enjoying the game's approach to companions for the most part, despite them having less content so far than I'm used to, approached in a different way. I would really enjoy if BG3 did end up having a couple companions like the original, with little to no story, maybe just a quest when you meet them, who you can recruit to travel with you because they're interested or want to help or whatever, but don't have as much content as the Origin characters, and maybe don't even stay in the same place as the rest of your party when they leave, they just go back to where they were to keep doing whatever it is their doing. I even had t idea that they could be gated based on the act. So say the bulk of act 2 takes place in Baldur's gate, then we could meet a couple of these temporary companions who could join us while we're there, but then when/if we have to leave the city, they part ways with us and we move to the next area, which will have its own set of extra companions.
