I'm gonna try and be positive first because there was indeed a whole lot of great stuff in this update. I was interested in Karlach before and her description now makes me even more excited. I was hoping she'd be a paladin but honestly I'm not actually bothered. It just means Lae'zel will be my sword lady and Karlach can be my axe lady (she has strong axe vibes). I like how she has pretty strong chaotic good vibes from the way she's being described. Feels like she could be more straightforwardly good than I expected. Not entirely so given her craving for revenge, but moreso than I would have expected.
I like the look of half-orcs, already getting some potential ideas for them. And monks look absolutely rad. Plus while I never doubted they would be included I'm super excited to see Archfey warlocks and pact of vengeance paladins. I've got some ideas for those classes that I'm eager to jump into. I am cautiously excited to see how Larian handles all those wizard subclasses. I am also, of course, incredibly excited to see that the game is releasing WAY earlier than originally announced, that's insane and I'm glad the wait for this game won't be so achingly long (sorry PS5 players). All in all this is a great update that kicks my excitement for this game up an extra notch even if objectively it doesn't address a lot of my issues.
Which brings me to my biggest issue with this update. I am now quite underwhelmed by the potential party selection. They ditched the party lock, which I'm also happy about, but the party roster just feels lacking. We only have one, maybe two good origin companions and the other four? Meh. I had hoped for more new blood to join the party. Two past companions who by rights should be way more powerful (though I'm willing to let Minsc off the hook because he's not the original and is just a magically animated statue) and Halsin, another character who by rights should be way more powerful than us and doesn't even have an excuse to explain being powered down. I can understand them including him and Minthara as concessions to their popularity among the playerbase, that's probably a good call in some ways, but I'd have still wanted more surprises. More down to earth characters. It feels like this distinction of companion vs origin would have been the perfect place to introduce those sorts of characters into the party. Instead of Halsin, give us Nettie or Alfira. Instead of Minthara, give us Sazza. And the level of good in the party really doesn't feel like what their initial promise implied. I'm all for gray characters, but I'd have wanted more that were definitely a lighter shade of gray. So while I'm personally not unhappy with the party we'll ultimately get, I'm still disappointed in the lost potential of the roster.
