The EA Wyll at least had something going for him, and I was looking forward to where his plot could go. The lack of ties to Ravenguard apart from respect on Wyll's part worked better too, in my opinion, since despite being his father, he barely reacts to the PC and Wyll romancing each other and plays an ultimately minor role in the plot.
Meanwhile Shadowheart maintains presence throughout all three acts, still, though, the removal of the Shar worship option in the full game is a freaking disappointment (although, given how we can't even choose not to be Baldurian as most races, I suppose it's little surprise since it would have had to account for the PC likely being the member of the same cloister).
My personal gripe with the more "evil"-coded companions, though, is that:
...they all have a "redemption arc" of some kind, making it feel like the writers were worried that the characters will lose in popularity or appeal if they are unapologetically "bad".
- Shadowheart's background is as predictable as it gets,
- Astarion is only like that because he was abused by his master,
- Lae'zel is easily swayed towards Orpheus despite maintaining her loyalty to Vlaakith even after an attempt on her life (the whole creche section was really disappointing narratively...),
- Wyll no longer displays his prejudices and hatred towards what he percieves as ultimately evil safe for Karlach which gets swept under the rug practically right away,
- and Minthara was all sunshine and kittens all along despite a Lolthian upbringing (and an "evil" route for her effectively means her living with a "false" identity, rather than embracing that perhaps she is cruel, violent, and fanatical to go with an evil PC - although, given how underdeveloped the evil path turned out (just like people were rightfully worried it will), it seems like the game really doesn't want you to actually play a villain except in a very specific way or go full CE and murder everyone indiscriminately.
Larian had a companion who was a tyrant-in-the-making in their previous game and he fulfilled his role well enough. There were Morrigans, Fenrises, Bishops, Durances and many others who could be thoroughly morally bankrupt or prejudiced or insufferable but they were well-made characters and interacting with them felt meaningful. Here I wasn't sure what the approval meter was even for, except romance - I assume it affects the difficulty of dialogue checks? Because nobody seems particularly keen on betraying you, unless perhaps you REALLY piss them off.
