The lack of meaningful companion-to-companion interaction significantly detracts from the feeling of being an actual party. While on one interactions with the player character are masterfully done, interactions among the companions themselves are severely lacking. Over 85 hours of gameplay, there are few if any instances where companions engage in meaningful conversation with each other or contribute substantially to quest dialogue.
Companion to companion interactionApart from the sporadic 20-second filler dialogue that companions engage in when exploring, I can not, almost, remember a single instance in the ENTIRE GAME where two party members exchange words with each other. The only situations where I can remember this is when you free Lae'zel and she and Shadowheart have an exchange, and one other which I will come back to. This absence of interaction makes it feel like the companions have no relationship with each other, and most of the time it feels like companions are just staring blankly in the background during quest dialogue and are not even there. I have not had this problem in other RPGs so this feels like an isolated problem with BG3 itself.
Examples of disconnected moments
Notable examples of this are:
1. During the ending Karlach is dying from overheating of the infernal engine. Wyll randomly states: "No I can not watch someone I love die". And I am just sitting there like ??? Well, bro, you have not said a single word to her this entire game except when you met her. It feels incredibly artificial to watch that scene.
2. Similarly, in a critical scene in the temple of Bhaal, where the MC is being murdered by Bhaal, the romance option (in my case Shadowheart) is just silently standing in the background. This goes on for at least 5 min as after you are dead there is a monologue from Jergal as well. During this entire time, the romance option is just completely silent and reacts in no way. Why are you not running to me? Why are you not screaming? Why are you not holding me? It is ridiculous to the point it completely breaks the immersion and diminishes the sense of connection between the MC and the romance option.
For it to feel like the party members are building relationships of friendship, rivalry, hate, etc..... There needs to be actual dialogue that confirms this, where the dialogue is NOT centered on the MC. I need to see Wyll and Karlach build a relationship that progresses logically up to the point where he says "I can not watch someone I love die". If the scene is going to feel authentic.
Example: Dialogue where they reflect on their infernal connections, life before infernal connections, things they have in common, etc.
2. Group talks and activities. Enhance the party dynamic by including for example: Group talks by the fire, card games as a group, and shared meals with maybe some reflection as a group.
Further examples: Maybe Wyll comes by as I am playing Lanceboard with Gale and wants to play a game. Drunk dance-offs, push-up contests, stories by the fire. This can be done in either a comedic way or an intellectual one, JUST ANYTHING TO MAKE IT FEEL LIKE THIS IS A GROUP OF COMPANIONS.
3.Vocal approvalReplace the generic text "X approves/Disapproves" with voiced expressions during the actual quest dialogue. Yes, this happens sometimes, but more often it does not. With voiced expressions, it will make their feelings more genuine and engaging.
4. Examples from other games regarding party dynamics.
- Leliana's song by the fire in DA:O.
- Mass Effect party DLC.
- Garrus and Shepard, beers, and shooting stuff from rooftops.
- Geralt/Ciri snowball fight
- Geralt and the Witchers on their drunk detective quest.
Summed up, it feels like party members never talk to each other and all progression of relationships goes through the MC as a medium.
In conclusion, investing more time into these issues will enhance player immersion and the companions will feel like they have actual personalities outside of talking to the MC.
