I hate to be a buzzkill but I think wrath of the righteous is seriously lacking in the story department. From the little discussion I had with other people about it, it seems like it is because of a weak source material, which honestly is not a good excuse. The companion cast of this game is probably the best I've seen in years, but still, a weak story seriously drag this game down
To many people, a great companion cast will elevate the story beyond how it’d be normally received. Like DAO and DAI would be pretty generic saving the world stories if it weren’t for the twists the companions in both games brought to the table, for instance. That’s all.
On the topic of Dorian and Astarion, WotR’s Daeran is much closer to Dorian in that he has actual political ability/connections to the nobility, primary difference being he isn’t afraid to use it to encourage you to ignore and snub the useless nobles. And he has little concept of personal decency either. He’s not in this to please other people.
Wenduag would be closer to an Astarion type, and though I’ve never played with her since I usually go for Lann, she supposedly has a lot more depth than she appears at first glance.
Like I see people describe her as someone that worships people and beings of great power in the hopes of attaining it herself, but she is actually doing it to try to elevate her cursed mongrelmen in a super roundabout way. She will also support anyone seeking the same thing alongside her, and the evil part is mostly about quickly deciding to kill anyone who she perceives as getting in her way, including former friends. She can be ruthlessly intelligent, but only measures people based on how much of a threat they can be.
(Mild spoiler interaction with another party member below.)
Some have said she outright warns you about how dangerous Ember is if she’s present at the time Ember joins the party. And she is apparently the ONLY party member that elicits that kind of response from Wenduag upon potentially joining. The rest of the cast just see her as a little girl that doesn’t belong on the battlefield otherwise, questioning you about taking her into the party.
Wenduag is probably correct, Ember is probably the most dangerous Neutral Good character I’ve ever seen in a really unusual way from a writing standpoint.
