Karlach: Didn't enjoy her. Felt a bit like a character out of a children's cartoon personality wise to me.
Good comparison. Really, pretty infantile behavior for a character who is supposed to be someone who went through the Devil Wars in the Nine Hells. And she regularly uses the word “soldier” even though I find it rather difficult to see her as a “soldier” herself. When she tries to pose as a “protector” towards Tav, it's... just facepalm.
Gale: Something about him made me uncomfortable. Can't really put my finger on it. He has some sweet moments, but I had difficulty keeping him in party because he somehow made my skin crawl.
Maybe his hypocrisy? My impression is that Gale is trying hard to show himself to be “good” according to the moral standards of the society around him. He is quite clever, and he generally succeeds. His real attitude is “revealed” in his lines when some misfortune happens to one of his companions (if Astarion catches fire in the sun, the old line before correction, the reaction if you give Shadowheart to Viconia, etc.). I changed my attitude towards him after he demanded that Astarion be kicked out of the camp after learning that he was a vampire, even though he himself is a walking bomb, and he himself was supported and “fed” artifacts to him in every way possible, but when someone else has the problem, and “moral standards” allow such behavior, everything becomes clear with Gale. Gale gets attached to Tav though (but they all do if you properly help them on their quests), and may sacrifice himself at the end. I don't condemn this approach, it's also a survival option, and it didn't make my skin crawl - Gale is a rather weak character, such a person is unlikely to ever dare to stab someone in the back who is strong enough, even if the situation doesn't go the way he wants it to, but he is quite capable of leaving a co-partner to die.
Astarion: Thought his hair was a bit silly (it was a strong first impression lol), but his dorky, morbid sense of humor made him fun to keep around constantly. A party staple.
Haha, Astarion's jokes never seemed dorky to me, but periodically made me roll under the table with laughter. In some places in his jokes lies a very even intellectual subtext, well, I'm generally a great connoisseur of black humor, Stephen Rooney managed, certainly managed to impress me with his character's lines. But the jokes of Minsc, on the contrary, maybe once you can laugh at something, but then perceived as: “Oh, no, it's going to be about ‘asses’ again, or about ‘good’, or all together...”. In BG2 the authors somehow managed not to “overdo” Minsk, but in BG3 this character gets tiresome after a while, too hyperbolized fool.
Lae'zel. Ride or die from first meeting. I loved how straightforward and harsh she was, and seeing her convictions get challenged later on...her writers did a great job with it! A well rounded and well thought out character imo.
Yeah! I agree. Her straightforwardness is exactly what makes her trustworthy, and it makes me want to impress her and build a good relationship with her. And the way she yells at you, yet gives approval when her beliefs are questioned - a small touch, but a cool character reveal. Her scenario was really well handled.
