I love Lae'zel, and I think she's the most grounded and 'normal' of the BG III party members, even though she's the only one not from Toril! By all we know of her, she's perfectly normal for a Githyanki, and that latter half would be an interesting enough gimmick to set her apart in a lot of crpgs. I mean hell, put her in BG I or II, or the NWNW games-she'd instantly be one of the more unique characters, and I imagine she'd be pretty popular for her novelty....but she wouldn't 'steal the show' from the MC.
When the 'normie' party member option from BG III is comparable to the 'exceptional/weird' options of most other crpgs, yeah....I think that's a valid angle to criticize the game from. I'd be overjoyed to have a 'normal' paladin (order of the Radiant Heart, anyone?) with relatable personal problems/quests. Or a gnomish bard whose distinguishing feature is their personality.
We never 'needed' Gale to have a backstory heavily cribbed from Karsus (aka the most important mortal in the entire setting) with a magical nuke in the middle of his chest. Nor did we need Karlach to be Zariel's champion who can take on Baphomet and who also has a bomb in their chest. Karlach could have just been an average footsoldier in the Bloodwar trying to desert and that would have been a fantastical and unique backstory already. Gale could have just been a wizard who injured himself in a magical experiment and needs to drain magic to survive, and it would have been an interesting enough gimmick keeping this poor guy alive long enough to find a cure without the chosen stuff or the nuke.
