Cool topic, and really interesting to see how other people's perceptions of the companions are. Overall, I quite like the BG3 cast as characters, maybe not so much as people I'd hang out with.
Interactions with the current BG3 cast emulates a "neutral/slightly evil" table top party with just a hint of intraparty tension (but not full bown PvP). They definitely feel different from the companion I'm used to in most other RPGs - who are often far more deferential to the main character (who usually becomes the leader by default), and tend to feel really designed around
your story. Each of the BG3 companion really feel really alive and have tons of motivation and agency. They may be working with you right now, but are not subservient to you, and they will remind you of it.
In fact, I'd suspect that this table-top-like experience is can throw off the audience that mostly play single-player RPGs (where you're are asked to be the "main character"). Whereas "main-character syndrome" is often discouraged in table-top - so your interactions can look quite a bit like those in BG3 and it's fun to have that in a digital format. Everyone's got a prominent background story and they drive the plot as much as you do. However, at least in the EA, I do feel like Larian is currently over-focused on the "specialness" of the companions when compared to the main character. The custom main character NEEDS to have equally compelling content to balance out the background of the companions. Otherwise we will have an "inverse-main-character" syndrome where we play the role of the NPC to the companion's story.
As the individual companions - my thoughts are based on multiple playthroughs through various patches. Some changes might have happened in recent updates that I haven't caught/noticed. Regardless (Spoilers Obviously):
Lae'zel:I find Lae'zel is a fascinating study of Githyanki culture, but otherwise a difficult character to judge. The best and worst parts of her character is that a lot of it is actually obfuscated by her Githyanki indocrination. Given the Githyankis' social Darwinistic beliefs, her brashness, racism, and ruthlessness is very in-character of a typical Githyanki. Underneath that surface, we know, via her dream, the mirror, and reading her through the tadpole, that Lae'zel is desperately wants the validation of her Queen, and is deeply insecure about her place in Githyanki society. However, even that can be a part of the Githyanki culture - as it makes sense that the complete lack of stable social bonds and a fickle social status that is based only on "merit", would make anyone insecure.
One thing that does truly stands out as a Lae'zels characteristic is that the game heavily implies that she is extremely naive when it comes to the deeper, inner workings of her own culture - and I love this. She appears to have bought into the propaganda lines of the Gith without understanding the true political context and motivations. We see this heavily hinted at during the Gith Patrol encounter in regards to the "purification" process. This is the part of her character and story that I'm most excited for, and it's been well set-up for when we finally visit the Githyanki Creche to develop further. I like how her plotline is tied heavily into the Act 1 main quest, and usually do like to take her in my party (despite always making sure to start every playthrough by yeeting her off the Nautiloid , as is tradition).
Overall, I'm pretty neutral towards her in terms of likeability, but find her story and character interesting.
ShadowheartAs a person, I think I like Shadowheart the most. In terms of her story/background though, despite it being heavily tied to the main plot, there really doesn't have much for us to dive into at this point. We don't know much about her mission or the artifact related to it (only that it seems to counter the Absolute). The hand glowing sequence does hints at a something more, but I'm less excited about the specific reveal and more about how that'll change her character. The game works hard to show her more sentimental and altruistic sides - as highlighted by the Tiefling sequence and the Mirror of Desires in the Hag's lair, so I feel like that is strong foreshadowing for what to expect.
I do find it interesting that she's seemingly very well adjusted for someone who's missing massive chunks of her memory. Despite being pretty uncompromising when it comes to her mission, she can be very pleasant and sociable depending on your choice and actions. She's a gal that just wants to do her job and GTFO - I can respect that. Very much like Lae'zel I'm intrigued to see how much she can potentially change throughout the game as more of her past is revealed, and comes into conflict with her current beliefs.
Lastly, I know a lot of people have pointed out how blatant her worship of Shar is, which makes for a silly reveal / plothole, which I do agree with if it's kept unanswered. I am reserving judgment on that until we see the end of that story though, as it's only a plothole if it goes unexplained. Assuming that it's not, I personally suspect that the obvious Shar worship IS actually the disguise.
Overall, I find her current story only decently interesting, but I find her very relatable as a character.
Gale:He's probably the most intriguing companion for me - in that I'm very curious as to how his story will turn out. I really like how Gale is written - in that he's jovial and friendly on the surface, but as you dive deeper, you get a glimpse of someone who can be as arrogant as he is egoistic, incredibly manipulative, and seemingly power-hungry enough to endanger the rest of the world if it will fulfill his ambitions.
Some of the scene's I'm referring to are (spoilers) - if you sleep with him before he tells you his past/situation - give him crap for not telling you and he'll straight up tell you that he specifically chose not to, in order to guarantee sex. Alternatively, choose to romance someone else over him at the party, and you'll get to see a very different, pushy Gale. Also, if you do not feed him sufficient artifacts, he'll accept Raphael's deal. The way he talks to you after - the passive aggressiveness - is straight up scummy, and I freaking love it.
All this, makes Gale an interesting and complex character in my eyes. Because despite what I've outlined above - he's not 100% evil either. There are aspects of him that seem to want to genuinely just be a decent person. Gale's story doesn't tie in as closely to the main plot as Shadowheart's and Lae'zel's, but I think it actually encapsulates the central theme of power - the pursuit, validation, and morality of it, much closer than any others. Mechanically, I also think Gail is by far the "most special" character (death effects, plot armor, even a special death cutscene), and this could help amplify his story, or completely backfire and simply make him the creator's pet (kind of like Fane in DOS2).
Overall, I kinda hate him as a person, but also find his character and story the most intriguing of all because it can go in so many different direction. He's got me guessing.
Astarion:Astarion probably rates the lowest for me as a character and companion. His goals, motivations, and characteristics have enough depth to tell a competent story, but is mostly unremarkable and a few key interactions really sour him for me. I recently made a very
long post about this - but it boils down to the string of interactions you have with him early in the game - his initial oafish, hostile introduction and the boundary breaking, creepy attempt to drink your blood after. Together, they really forces a player to ask the question as to - why am I inviting this person to join? Why am I keeping him around? Regardless of your player's alignment.
I mentioned earlier on that BG3 does a good job of emulating a table-top-like interactions when it comes to the companions. Astarion is the player that is a bit too anti-party ("it's what my character would do!"), and is remembered for making the rest of the table feel uncomfortable by creeping up on a fellow player's character to do something physical to them while they are asleep.
In terms of his personality, I don't mind that he's evil and sociopathic - but I do think he's bit too comically blatant about it (approving basically any capital "E" evil choices in the game). I believe Larian have started removing some of these since they were straight up petty (like kicking animals, etc). I saw some comments regarding Astarion having too much murderhobo tendencies, and I do mostly agree. I think a more generous interpretation is that Astarion, is in many ways, very child-like. He goes through huge swings in emotion (depending on how you treat him), lacks understanding of boundaries, and can be very selfish, petty, and whimsical. He puts up a facade to hide his trauma, but seems to also enjoy displacing it by witnessing or enacting various forms of aggression, kind of like a child-bully. He reminds me very much of more violent and extreme Gann from NWN 2: Mask of the Betrayer.
Definitely the companion I like the least as a person or a character, but still got enough depth that I think his story deserves to be explored, once you get pass the initial antagonism.
WyllWyll is an instagram influencer turned adventurer and is willing to lie,
photoshop, torture, and make pacts with fiends to make it happen.
Two main things compel me about Wyll - one, how low is he actually willing to go to protect his ego and self-image? And two, what is the true nature of his relationship with Mizora? Through all his dialogue and lies, we're told conflicting things as to how he actually feels about Mizora. One moment, he's claiming that people killing her will be doing him a favor. The other, he's willing to torture an innocent man to find her location. The man is so accustomed to lying that he probably doesn't even realize it when he lies to himself. I think the most telling information we have comes from when you have him interact with the Hag's mirror, where you find out he wants Mizora begging and cowering before him. Fitting.
I feel like Wyll is being set-up for either a full decent into villainy (anything to keep up his lie), or a severely rude awakening. Either way, I can't wait to see it play out.
Overall, I don't like him as a person but really can't wait to see how this experiment ends.
Wow, this got long.
With all this said, there is one thing I'd like to bring up in regards to the approval system - since it's so tied in with these companions. I sincerely hope Larian chooses to implement a system where high approval doesn't necessarily = good story outcome (i.e. like Mass Effect 2). Not only does it get in the way for you to RP your own characters, a lot of times, it's far better to call someone out on their BS than to pander to them.
I think a lot of frustration I've seen players experience in regards to the companion comes from learnings in other games, where higher approvals = better outcomes and more options, and thus they equate disapproval as failure. I think a basic, binary system like that would be pretty detrimental to the roleplaying aspects of the game. Obviously we don't know where this will ultimately go with BG3 yet, but I thought it's important to bring up.
