I think upcast Command is maybe my favorite spell in this entire game hehe.
This doesn't really surprise me though, cause Command was also my favorite spell in BG1. Although the way things worked there it was much more of an interrupt, just cause bg1 was real time and the spell casting time was near instantaneous for that one. In this one though I love that I can cast upcast it and actually Command the enemies in particular ways, even if Halt is clearly going to be my default.
Even in the sections of the game in Act II where we are mostly dealing with Undead, I still got a lot of use out of it at Moonrise. It's kinda wild how reliable it is if you just always cast it vs 2 or more targets. For me it's usually a shot call between Glyph of Warding and a lvl 3 upcast Command Halt.
I was actually a little frustrated that after a couple years in the kitchen, they still never changed Shadowheart's default prepared spells at lvl 1 to include Command and Sanctuary.
Instead they have their new players struggling to deal direct damage casting Guiding Bolt and Harm or whatever. If her prepared spells were Sanctuary and Command I'm sure more players would have an easier time with Nautiloid fight and the stuff on the beach. Particularly since new players probably won't know to try and change stuff in a spellbook, since it's not really tutorialized and you don't engage much with those menus until you hit lvl 2. Just felt a little odd.
Hold Person is less reliable, but again with the upcast can be pretty sav, just turning some fights completely upside down into a Crit fest for the martials on the team. I think the Arcane CC spells are somewhat less impressive than the Divine ones, and need more meta magic type antics to use reliably. Hold Monster has been a workhorse for me in Act III though. Unlike with haste, I never seem to forget that I'm concentrating on keeping somebody held hehe.
I don't know though, cause it's very much a direct damage type layout in many encounters. I probably overvalue CC because I find it so satisfying to execute, and cause my first BG1 character was a Cleric so it feels like home somehow.
