That whole thing was actually implemented before early access was a thing. They showed it off in February 2020 during the gameplay reveal.
They changed initiative due to the backlash they received over it.
I don't understand... are you saying initiative used to be rolled for the whole party before EA launch and they changed it to per-character due to feedback, or are you saying it was rolled on a per-character basis before EA and they later changed it to full party due to backlash? Either way you made me double-check just in case.
If you're talking about this gameplay reveal from 2020, it clearly shows Astarion being alone in initiative despite Gale being alive
hereIn the recent PFH the very same mechanics are shown
around this timestampSo, how was initiative changed? Am I missing something?