I feel like I've met all these characters before. I've met them in Mass Effect. I've met them in other Dragon Age games. I've met them in Baldur's Gate. And of course, I've seen them in movies and TV for the past two decades. I already know everything they're going to say. I already know everything they're going to do. I already know which ones I'll have to help heal from their dark pasts. I already know which ones are staying in camp and never being spoken to.
Trying to guess at the companions (I skipped through the reveal so might have missed any who already have characterisations). Left to right:
Elf Man With Extreme V Neck Shirt: Will be very annoying, and will no doubt have some trauma backstory that gets resolved after four lines of dialogue. May have suffered from last minute rewrites to make him more like Astarion in the wake of BG3's success, which will mean he's utterly incoherent. May end up being likeable at times
if the voice actor gives an absolute A-grade performance, otherwise will just be irritating.
Qunari: This is hard to predict. She (I think that's a she?) will either be the only tolerable character, or a total void that you repeatedly forget is actually in your party. She will have a camp dialogue where she reveals that Qunari culture has a belief in nonbinary gender, and respects it greatly. Your dialogue options will all express your agreement. The writers, low on original ideas and able to think only in terms of existing tropes, may just write her as Worf, in which case she'll be the best companion.
Chirpy Elf Lady With Big Hair: She will be "comic relief" who makes you want to commit suicide whenever she's on-screen. If we're very very unlucky, she'll have a tortured backstory, offering us
the true reason behind her joviality- it's a shield to hide her pain. Players will put her in camp ASAP and not take her out.
Old Man With Staff: Will have no character. Is there for people without fathers to enjoy the vicarious thrill of having a virtual father figure.
Goatee Man: I
think he's the Alistair/Gale/etc equivalent; a generic "nice" man with a pleasant English accent who'll fall in love with the protag at first sight and be "adorably dorky" (ie annoying). I'm not 100% certain on this read, though; that character design could also be an Evil Guy. But there's got to be one generic "nice" English man, and he looks like the most likely candidate.
Halfling Girl: A dwarf I guess, but looks like a Halfling. She will be an amoral killer (like that blonde Elf in Inquisiton, or Zevran in Origins). She'll also be incredibly sexually aggressive, which the writers will not realise comes across as deeply unpleasant. You will be expected to find her audacious and exciting; instead, she'll be repugnant and annoying.
Indian Lady With Face Covered By Hair: She'll be cold and sarcastic. That will be more or less it, unless she has a manufactured backstory. She will have about three lines over the course of the game which actually get a laugh; these will be the
only jokes that land in the entire script, which will win her a large fanbase. She may be the most tolerable character.
