...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".
The sad thing is
Larian is probably correct with that assumption considering that the vast majority of talk about the companions is simping.
The entire cast of BG3 is rather shallow and just there for various fantasies to cover all "tastes". Take that away and there is nothing much left. And sadly that works. So say goodbye to complex or deep characters, after BG3s success everyone else will start to lift their NPCs straight out of harem visual novels.
And not only the companions were dumbed down in the last minute, the plot was too with the addition of the Emperor which you can't really get away from until the very end in a ME3 style button press and consequence free tadpoles.
