Think about it, when have you ever played any kind of game or RPG where all the character creation does is change the player's appearance? I do get some people like that but I've noticed a very consistent pattern of more customisation options usually means the devs have spent too much time on that rather than the gameplay and story.
There's also the other factor of these little background tag stories they try to introduce like with religion or lifepaths. They gives you the impression this is suppose to be some kind of meaningful choice but in reality all it does is change a few dialogue responses and has very little effect on the main story itself. It feels like there are certain mechanics I see regularly getting shoehorned into genres that don't belong in it and they're meant for a certain type of person that isn't really that interested in gameplay and more interested in cosmetics and general customisation.
Pretty hypocritical of them, considering most of the companions in the final game ended up being some variation (or combination) of human or elf, which in D&D usually translates as "human with pointy ears." Didn't even include any other staples of high fantasy like halflings, dwarves, or (half-)orcs in the main cast.
Seems like they were very intent on playing up demons (tieflings) in the cast.