I think Larian heavily reworked the way origins work here relative to DOS2. Before, companions in DOS2 had minimal characterisation and character moments, so you didn’t miss out on anything choosing to play as them. In fact, you gained more content playing as an origin than a Tav. In BG3, companions have more depth and expression than even in other major character-driven RPGs. As a result, choosing to play as the companion costs you the depth of that companion’s performance and how that performance integrates with the story (like Karlach’s ecstatic response to touching for the first time).
The silent player character is designed to give the player more agency and choice in dialogue options and roleplay projection. It comes at the cost of an acted performance.
I think it was Swen who suggested people play a custom first. This makes sense because then you get every origin’s powerhouse performance and depth. Then on subsequent playthroughs, you switch the camera and ask yourself what if X companion had been in charge of the group.
This could be a Karlach specific problem, though, as I’ve heard Shart has unique dialogue options in romance as an Origin.
