idk, I'm just not seeing how any of the companions and their relationships/dialogue/etc are any better than something like Mass Effect's companions. Sure, there is higher graphical fidelity and the motion capture is better, but other than that, and the good voice acting, the writing itself isn't anything to write home about, and the "reactivity" that has become the buzzword of the year doesn't seem to be anything special. They don't react in the slightest to big events, they react only at very specific moments in their own quest line, or when their quest line crosses with the main story.
Maybe I'm missing something, but if I think about Joker, Garrus, Thane, Shepard themselves, I don't see how BG3 has surpassed that in any sense. Unless you're simply saying that they're the strong point of the game, not necessarily superior to all other games, in that case, fair enough.
Keep in mind that Mass Effect's character development occurs over the span of 3 games and each character really only has one of two ways they can turn out over the course of the trilogy based on the idea that you completed 100% of the content and chose either Paragon or Renegade options. I recommend reloading conversations (especially romances) and seeing how different dialogue options take you down different paths in the relationship, revealing different information about the character and how they feel. By "reactivity" in characterization, I mean their behavior changing based on the inputs you give them in conversation. However, "reactivity" for the whole game would certainly be better: it would be nice if the characters had fundamentally different reactions, behaviors, or things to say based on the choices you make, particularly the major ones. It would also be nice if said characters could discuss your choices with each other and judge you.
I would not say that Joker or Garrus were particularly strong characters in ME1. Garrus attains GOAT status in ME2, as does Joker, which continues through to ME3. However, I think we also need to contextualize the kind of game ME2 is: It is a pure character study. The entirety of the major missions in ME2 are all either recruitment missions or loyalty missions. The entire game is centered around exploring the personalities of the characters. That's why characters like Grunt, Mordin, Jack, and Thane feel so remarkably fleshed out and deep. If 100% of the content in BG3 were character study of our six origin companions, we might be having a different conversation.
Will the writing team at Larian produce characters like Mordin or Thane? I don't know. There's no telling what a creative person can or cannot do. I will agree that the writing in BG3 is not necessarily the strongest writing I've ever seen in an RPG, but it's still damn good in my opinion. But of that damn good writing, I think it genuinely shines during moments of deep characterization of our companions.
With that in mind, how would you suggest a different approach to the creative process of creating and portraying studies of companions in RPGs?
