The only thing "Bioware" in there is the engine they had borrowed. Everything else was supposed to be a dungeon crawl, like the good ol' days. The good ol' days before anything "romance" became a feature ticked off a list of features.
Actually, Baldur's Gate, where they got the engine from is a Bioware game. But, that didn't have romances and npc's you could really talk with either. A handful of characters in BG1 would have one line when you finish their quest, but that was it. The whole party banter and romances and stuff - wasn't until Baldur's Gate 2, which came after Icewind Dale. So, they didn't 'take that out'.
Technically, Torment also did it first, releasing a good couple months earlier than BG2. However, that was a character driven project back then when going "character driven" was an option -- not a must-have feature. And was actually influenced by the same source: JRPGs. If you ask me, Morte et all had also been the high-point. It's mostly been down (and super formulaic) from then on: Pick a companion, unlock his "story quest", optional romance, wash rinse repeat.
Too bad that other experiences (and ideas) have been largely tossed to the wayside. For instance, creating an entire party, but being allowed to give each character a personality they express instead of movie-style completely fixed backstory (such as on Wizardry 8). Even companions literally fighting and killing each other in BG1 -- never been seen again. If explored further, this would allow for so much more dynamic interactions than merely farming for companion quests and romances.
But that ship seems to have sailed. And despite the complete repetitiveness, people are just not getting tired of it. I know players who create fully custom parties regardless whether any game ships with "fleshed out companions" -- and I don't blame them for that. edit: Naturally, a sequel to a typically Bioware-styled game is the wrong one for experimentation, naturally.
