You can argue that its not the right approach, but it'd very much what Larian intended, and they're going for a pretty tried and true trope. I think they specifically want you to be in a situation where you have to join up with characters you ordinarily wouldn't if you had a free choice. You're free to dislike that approach but I don't think it's a flaw, it's just a game design choice that some people will like more than others do.
Of course, this is all my opinion, some may disagree, but I'm still free to speak my mind, and I personally think that this design takes away from my "freedom of choice" I suppose, without feeling like I'm just being stupid in some cases.
