I did Astarion's Origin again because I missed all the special content the first time around - which really shouldn't be possible - and apart from my many, many grievances with it, I deeply enjoyed not ascending in the Origin version. Because you can break off the ritual at multiple points, there is a lovely sense of intensity and drama to it. You can get the whole ferocity of carving the runes into Cazador's back and then decide last minute that it's not worth the cost after all. It also helped that I had my trusty wizard with me because I really like how Gale handles the situation. He at first helps Astarion carve the runes because he shows empathy with Astarion's situation and on the second stage appeals to his conscience because of the great cost of life, later on revealing that he was also concerned how killing so many people would have made Astarion feel in the long run. Compared to Tav's dialogue in the scene, it felt overall warm and caring. (Which of course is also due to the voice acting.)
I wish, the companion version had this stepped approach to abandoning the ritual because it just feels more cathartic and it also matches some of the dialogue options of the post-graveyard conversation better - I also wouldn't mind if the Tav dialogue would allow for a bit more empathy with Astarion.
