Mechanically, it was a huge improvement over Kingmaker, although that was a pretty low bar. Your companions were actually useful in WotR, and the character build mechanics and gear options provided a huge variety of possibilities.
But story matters more to me than a lot of other gamers, and while the plot of the WotR AP is decently written in and of itself, Owlcat's interpretation left a lot to be desired. Your options for plot decisions were limited, and as much as they did their best to explore the lore, your main character's interactions with the world around him felt a little forced, as there were quite a few dialogue options and potential decisions that could easily have been added but were left out.
On top of that, as mechanically useful as a lot of your companions are, they're also completely unlikeable. All of them. There were maybe two whom I could actually tolerate, and the rest were an absolute chore to have around. My second play-through I went with an all-merc party just to avoid having those dumbfucks around, I actually built an almost-exact clone of Nenio from the ground up so that I wouldn't have to deal with her dialogue. But not having them with you or exploring tedious dialogue with them really leaves out a lot of side-quests and story, so it makes the game feel even more limiting.
That was the one thing that put me off from playing it. I've read the description on the companions and I realized I don't want to play it.
Kingmaker had a similar problem and I ended up just getting mercs but I just did not want to do that again.
It begs the question why were companions likable in other games and why the shift?
I still may try it out at one point with mercs. I don't think the companions are poorly written, just not some I would take in my party. BG1&2 you had a tone of companions to choose from, some of them were nice and some of them were not but you had enough to make a nice party to suit me personally.
The ones in Wrath seem either meh or annoying. Ember does seem interesting, Camellia and maybe Lann - way to few to form a dcent party.
This more or less mirrors my experience with the game. Going Lich or Swarm is worthwhile just to kill the rest of the party. They're all obnoxious. Nenio is the worst. She's like if someone did the butterfly meme and said "is autism a personality?"
Owlcat also can't help themselves but try to be oh so clever, and accidentally include an endgame zone designed to make you quit because it's so incredibly not fun.
Mechanically, it was a huge improvement over Kingmaker, although that was a pretty low bar. Your companions were actually useful in WotR, and the character build mechanics and gear options provided a huge variety of possibilities.
But story matters more to me than a lot of other gamers, and while the plot of the WotR AP is decently written in and of itself, Owlcat's interpretation left a lot to be desired. Your options for plot decisions were limited, and as much as they did their best to explore the lore, your main character's interactions with the world around him felt a little forced, as there were quite a few dialogue options and potential decisions that could easily have been added but were left out.
On top of that, as mechanically useful as a lot of your companions are, they're also completely unlikeable. All of them. There were maybe two whom I could actually tolerate, and the rest were an absolute chore to have around. My second play-through I went with an all-merc party just to avoid having those dumbfucks around, I actually built an almost-exact clone of Nenio from the ground up so that I wouldn't have to deal with her dialogue. But not having them with you or exploring tedious dialogue with them really leaves out a lot of side-quests and story, so it makes the game feel even more limiting.
That was the one thing that put me off from playing it. I've read the description on the companions and I realized I don't want to play it. Kingmaker had a similar problem and I ended up just getting mercs but I just did not want to do that again.
It begs the question why were companions likable in other games and why the shift?
I still may try it out at one point with mercs. I don't think the companions are poorly written, just not some I would take in my party. BG1&2 you had a tone of companions to choose from, some of them were nice and some of them were not but you had enough to make a nice party to suit me personally. The ones in Wrath seem either meh or annoying. Ember does seem interesting, Camellia and maybe Lann - way to few to form a dcent party.
This more or less mirrors my experience with the game. Going Lich or Swarm is worthwhile just to kill the rest of the party. They're all obnoxious. Nenio is the worst. She's like if someone did the butterfly meme and said "is autism a personality?"
Owlcat also can't help themselves but try to be oh so clever, and accidentally include an endgame zone designed to make you quit because it's so incredibly not fun.