Yes and no? If you absolutely need a full custom character party from minute 1 you could still just create a multiplayer game, fill all 4 slots with other player characters, then assign them all to yourself as the controlling player. If however you can wait until like an hour in when you realistically unlock the guy that lets you get hirelings, just grab 3 of those and boom, you're set. The latter option is actually more sensible because if you were to use just regular companions, that's how long it would take you to have a full party anyway.

Nobody's perfect... I'm a nobody.