Lots of interesting thoughts here! I agree with many of the points made.
Generally, I think Larian have done a good job with all the companions both character-wise and with respect to their stories (okay, they're perhaps overblown but I'd rather than boring) and I am already invested in finding out more about them. They all have character models that I think are pretty cool, and most of them are extremely well-acted. I'm still not 100% convinced about actually playing them as origin characters, but am warming to the idea of getting a different perspective on their stories.
With regard to their stats, I didn't realise until someone mentioned it here that they all use a standard array and I do like that. I think it gives us a set of flexible but not overpowered characters, while still giving plenty of room to enjoy creating a better (or at least more focused) version of their class as a custom character or even them when we can configure ourselves them as origin characters. I do agree that the distribution of the points for some of the characters should be improved though, with Wyll being the worst example (I'd agree with the suggestion at
https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=836623). And I agree Lae'zel's INT and WIS should be swapped (giving her 13 INT with the +1 class bonus and 10 WIS) to give her more spell flexibility if spec-ed as an EK, and it fits her character too. I'm happy with Gale's stats, on the basis of accepting the constraint of using a standard array.
EDIT: I also think Astarion maybe should have his INT and WIS swapped, so with his high elf race he’d have INT 14 and WIS 12 rather than 13 each, which I’d say fits his character and race better, as well as suiting him better for a career as an Arcane Trickster. However, the 13 WIS might be helpful for players who want to use him as a Thief and would prefer to boost his perception, so I remain less fussed about this.
On their characters:
- I kind of miss Shadowheart's earlier snark, but I guess it does make sense that as a member of a religious order that prizes manipulation and deceit that she has learned to hide her contempt better
. Her story promises some twists and turns and I like that it gives some additional resonance to what happened to Moonhaven and Grymforge (which I'm assuming we'll find out more about in future). And the start of her romance is convincing and either sweet or shows her as an expert manipulator reeling in my character, depending on how you choose to read it! - Astarion is wonderfully dramatic, selfish and sulky, and as has already been mentioned the fact he has reason to take a very different attitude to the tadpole than other companions is important and interesting. He is an "evil" character that is complex enough to be interesting and possibly "redeemable". His romance (though not sure you could really call it that yet) also seems to flow reasonably naturally, and I can see the potential for the relationship to develop in an interesting way.
- Gale is another often hilarious character (to his own detriment: he might not die so often if I didn't love his resurrection scene so much), who it seems has been changed by a massive mistake in his past which gives him depth. I do cringe when he rambles on and on, eg about something boring that happened in the Yawning Portal once, or about that Amnian sex manual in his chat-up speech, but I guess that's a valid choice about who he is as a character.
- I seem to have Lae'zel in my party least, and while that's because of her class not her character it means I don't really feel I know her yet. Or maybe that's intentional, and we'll only really start getting to the bottom of who she is once we can get to the Githyanki creche. I do laugh out loud at the speech she gives you at the party if she doesn't like you enough to want to sleep with you, though (in a good way) - ouch!
- Wyll is the party member who isn't really working for me yet, though I think his story has potential. I don't know if it's because they're trying to do too much with his character: he's a hero, at least partly a fraud, a drunk, a swashbuckler, a noble (what is it with all these posh boys?), a thief (did they initially consider a Charlatan background for him?), a soldier and of course a warlock. Or the fact that, while I think it may have improved, his motion capture and animation needs a lot of work - it seems oddly jerky, with unnatural expressions and strange stances and head positions, especially when compared to the smooth and expressive animation of Astarion, say, or even Gale. Or perhaps, and no shade on the actor who presumably agreed the performance with Larian's director, that I just don't feel his voice or the acting style suit the character. And I had to watch his chat-up scene from behind my hands it felt so sleazy, but again perhaps that's just who he is. Or who I am.
- I'm not sure about Karlach. She seems so angry and bloodthirsty. She's obviously had a really bad time, so I'm not going to judge her for it, but her comment about the streets of Baldur's Gate running red when she got back and found the people who had ended her up in hell made me seriously wonder whether I'd done the right thing in helping her. I have difficulty seeing her as a potentially uncomplicatedly good character (not that that is something I particularly want her to be), and her rage does seem to support the hypothesis that she may be a barbarian. But while I have my doubts now, with their handling of the other characters Larian have earned my trust that whatever vision they have for the character will come off.
I'd like Halsin to be a companion (plus it's just not on for him to hang around my camp, eating my food, and not help out when he’s a freaking archdruid), and I'm sure Minsc will be as great as always. I was surprised to hear Jaheira would be a potential companion rather than a sort of advisor, quest-giver and Harper contact, and remain slightly dubious this is going to work but again, Larian haven't yet given me reason to doubt them. I'm not for a second expecting it, but it would be so cool if Barcus turned out to be an Artificer class companion.
And I do hope we'll get more non-origin companions and other camp-follower type characters, or at least NPCs that we have reason to return to and build relationships with. Particularly from the shorter races: even if we allow Barcus, where are the dwarves and halflings?!
