What? I refuse to believe a game director for one of the cornerstone RPG franchises, from a studio with excellent writing, especially character writing imo, would somehow have an epiphany playing FF VII? Especially if they played it 202X seeing how basically every story driven game post FF VII has taken inspiration from it or a game inspired by it (etc.).
EDIT: Oh I’m a silly goose, BG 2 not BG 3… Still BG 1 companions are imo more iconic than BG 2, but they did up the seriousness and reduced the stereotyping with 2 so they did improve, even if they didn’t have that magical X factor that 1 did.
It’s not just the seriousness but the amount of content that really sets 2 apart from 1. While the first one had a bigger and more diverse cast (and I miss certain characters in the sequel, like Xan), they had very little to say overall. They rarely interjected into dialogues, they rarely bantered with each other and very few of them had personal quests or character development.
In 2, the cast is cut down in size from 26 to 16, but those who are available all have plenty of input, with most of them having both a personal quest as well as some sort of character development over the course of the game. They might seem less interesting and unique at first glance, but after a playthrough they feel more fully realized as characters.
At least that’s my experience.
BG3 character writing is extreamly flat.
