We made lots of jokes about "Shadowheart" name indeed, not many of them over My little pony references in this thread. They made some peculiar choices in their cast of companions.
Not really a fan of the names with an apostrophe, but that´s a Githyanki thing so I expect to see a lot of "`"s ingame.
If we´re talking about names, I also find the name "Wyll" a little strange, personally. Well, I´m not into names like "I´m Staci with an i" and stuff like that I keep imagining the guy introducing himself
"Hi, I´m Wyll with an Y, and I´m very into warlocking and stuff. OMG, is that a holly molly tadpole in my eye?. That´s sooo last world-breaking crisis
Holly gosh, you too? I was like, chilling out and planning to crush my next mani-pedi and then that creepy tentacle guy appears and I was like... I´m not into that kinky kara-tur stuff. And it totally put a tadpole in my eye, messing up my daily fat perc and also my hair. Where I´m going to find a decent snipper in this wilderness?"
Maybe when I actually hear the guy the mental image will disappear so I´m very eager to hear the guy because it´s the only one we do not have a proper introduction.
And yeah, I assume Shadowheart is a made-up name. At least I hope it is.
@ThacoBell If I had to pick one that I like the least it would be the vampire. I have never been a fan of vampires. I flat out avoided ever playing one in all the Elder Scrolls games. They just simply don’t appeal to me. It is highly likely that he will serve the same fate that Khalid often would serve in BG1.. sacrificial lamb..
@Dunski I agree with a good chunk of what you just said, buuuuuuut...
"Might as well have a playable gnoll."
This would honestly double my esteem for the game. I know, not a high bar, but give me some unusual races to play for once! Everything playable is always vaguely mammalian and human shaped. Give me Gnolls, Kobolds, those sweet mantis dudes. ANYTHING.
We got Githyanki this time. That was bonus points for me.
@Dunski I agree with a good chunk of what you just said, buuuuuuut...
"Might as well have a playable gnoll."
This would honestly double my esteem for the game. I know, not a high bar, but give me some unusual races to play for once! Everything playable is always vaguely mammalian and human shaped. Give me Gnolls, Kobolds, those sweet mantis dudes. ANYTHING.
We got Githyanki this time. That was bonus points for me.
Githyanki are uncommon, but so very humanlike in physiology. I'd rather have something that's pbviously in-human from the silhouette alone.
The origin characters are all such clichés. They're over-the-top fantasty tropes cranked up to 150%. While Baldur's Gate had some companions that were a little cartoonish, most of them were grounded and believable members of Faerûn's society. They had their quirks and oddities but were not wildly unusual individuals as a whole. You had your arrogant red wizard, your violent dwarf, your grizzled paladin working for his church, your young noblewoman seeking to reclaim her family's castle and then make her own way in the world, and so on. They weren't absurd characters, they weren't total clichés. Most of them were realistic people. Moreover, some of the ones that are now considered stereotypes were invented by BG.
Mmm... agree to disagree on this point. Strongly.
Edwin was ridiculous and self monologued - was even eventually turned into a woman (Absurd).
Minsc was, well - if I have to explain why Minsc was a ridiculous character, then we shouldnt be talking (Absurd).
Jaheira was a sterotypical nagging woman/wife who bossed her husband around(Cliche)
Nalia was a sterotypical noble woman with a heart of gold(Cliche)
Safana is another major cliche.
Jan Jansen was the very embodiment of absurd.
"The kawaii big-eyed purple-haired gnome or halfling female with a squeaky voice" - Sounds like Alora to me.
I sometimes think people are so caught up in nostolgia that they forget that BG1 and 2 were flawed products, and a lot of their criticisms of what they expect from BG3 can be fairly levied at BG1/2.
@BallpointMan as much as Ajantis is my main man in BG1 there is no denying that he is a total stereotype. Except his purple helm... that thing had style all over it.. still to this day can’t figure out why it was brushed aside.. I am talking to you Beamdog!!!! ?
I sometimes think people are so caught up in nostolgia that they forget that BG1 and 2 were flawed products, and a lot of their criticisms of what they expect from BG3 can be fairly levied at BG1/2.
Yep, I even agree with a bunch of Dunski's criticisms -- the vampire character seems especially weak. But with BG1 especially, many of the NPC's were one-dimensional, exaggerated cliches. Khalid is more or less one extended joke in BG1. Same with Quayle. Same with Coran even. These characters and several others are largely defined by one personality trait driven to extreme.
And I don't even think that's necessarily wrong. Minsc is a clown of a character, but highly memorable as well. So was Edwin. I'd actually argue that this cartoonish-ness is more in line with the BG series than say what the Pillars series did with its attempt at more realistic characters.
Again, I also think it's insanely premature to judge any of these characters. If someone described Minsc's character in a non-spoiler way, what would that description look like? Not too different from these BG3 NPC's, I'd argue.
i really feel the nostalgia card is the last thing to be thrown around in this forum. alot of people replay the games for either no reload runs or when a new mod comes out.
@BallpointMan No one's saying that BG 1 and 2 were never absurd or over the top. But for every Xzar, there's a Keldorn. For every Minsc, there's a Korgan. Heck, even with Minsc, he GETS down to moments, like when he goes into a rage and Keldorn talks him down and Minsc is thankful. Every companion revealed so far from Larian has been over the top. There's an important distinction there.
@BallpointMan No one's saying that BG 1 and 2 were never absurd or over the top. But for every Xzar, there's a Keldorn. For every Minsc, there's a Korgan. Heck, even with Minsc, he GETS down to moments, like when he goes into a rage and Keldorn talks him down and Minsc is thankful. Every companion revealed so far from Larian has been over the top. There's an important distinction there.
A - we really dont know much of anything about the characters. So the only "over the top"ness about them comes from... a paragraph of introductory information? Something roughly equivalent to the Biography screen in the character record in BG 1 or 2.
B - We havent met all of the characters, so it's impossible to really know what the ratio of good or bad characters are going to be.
C - From the inciting post, the claim was generally put forward that the cast of BG1/2 fits into the world of Faerun and arent all that absurd (even citing Edwin as an example of a non absurd character). I think that's debatable and probably false. The majority of companion characters in BG 1 and 2 are cliche'd and/or absurd.
Edit - which is fine. They're fun to play with. I like Edwin/Minsc/Jan Jansen a whole lot. They're amusing.
This would be consistent with Baldur's Gate Descent into Avernus. As that also features Elturel (although while its in the Nine Hells). Elturel canonically does fall on that side of the river (I'm talking about the eastern settlement seen here).
I think they also said at one point that the city you see in the intro is Elturel.
Even if they were cliche, they were decent characters. For the most part they weren't campy, silly, or over-the-top ridiculous. Everything i've read about the BG3 companions tells me they fit all of the previous descriptions.
A. You'll notice I specifically said "revealed so far." I already added that caveat. Its 100% reasonable to criticize known information.
B. See point "A"
C. The BG characters, by majority, weren't cliche at the time of release. Some are only considered cliches now because of what BG1 established.
if anything according to tv tropes the bg 2 cast plays with the standard fantasy stereotypes presented.
i'm just gonna post what it says about them in the spoiler as it's long.
Deconstructor Fleet:
It's not immediately obvious, but Baldur's Gate masterfully deconstructs typical character clichés: Imoen is a fairly realistic take on how a Tag Along Kid would fare in such a fantasy world (she would get herself in huge danger and almost killed), Aerie deconstructs the image of the White Magician Girl, who doesn't get nearly as much help and compassion as she would in other stories, Anomen and Keldorn deconstruct the archetype of the Knight in Shining Armor by showing that life doesn't just consist of slaying Dragons and strictly following a Badass Creed and can occasionally be arrogant and judgmental, and Valygar, instead of getting accepted as the brooding, mysterious Byronic Hero, gets Mistaken for Gay and has to deal with his Dark and Troubled Past anyways. Jan, instead of being flat Comic Relief, turns out to be Smarter Than You Look and only capable of having survived so long because of how smart he is, Viconia shows that neither of the two parts of the Jerkass Woobie trope are more important than the other (and thus functionally deconstructs Draco in Leather Pants and Ron the Death Eater as a whole), Edwin proves that an eccentric and Cowardly Sidekick is not going to be successful in life, and Korgan, seemingly being an Expy of a Hack and Slash protagonist, demonstrates that there isn't a place for Ax-Crazy people in society, no matter how Crazy Awesome they are. Further, Cernd debunks the idea of a Smart Guy who speaks entirely in parables, with some people confused by his misplaced metaphors and some treating him like a moron, Nalia fares about as well as you might expect as a Left-Wing Democrat in a country which has been an arch-feudalistic aristocracy throughout history, Yoshimo makes light of the dashing Gentleman Thief role by demonstrating you can't really rely on him in a pinch and being less sure on his feet than he likes to suggest, Eldoth deconstructs the Lovable Rogue trope by being a Gold Digger, a raging sexist and intolerably cruel towards his girlfriend, Skie demonstrates how a Rebellious Princess without formal combat training would not fare well on the road and her lack of world experience leaves her open to exploitation and Garrick demonstrates that being well-meaning and a good person doesn't make the ladies want you, and as a dashing bard he's more than a little lacking. Shar-Teel deconstructs the Feminist Fantasy type of character by showing her to be just as evil as what she rails against, and Kagain should be glad that he's a legitimately good tank, otherwise people wouldn't have tolerated his greed and he'd be out of job. About the only one who plays any classic tropes straight is Minsc, but then again, as Dynaheir says, "Minsc is... well, Minsc."
A. You'll notice I specifically said "revealed so far." I already added that caveat. Its 100% reasonable to criticize known information.
B. See point "A"
C. The BG characters, by majority, weren't cliche at the time of release. Some are only considered cliches now because of what BG1 established.
You said "Every companion revealed so far from Larian has been over the top.". I took that to mean the ones we've been introduced to, not what we know about them. Either way, you're literally judging a book by its cover.
Also, flatly - no. Jaheira didnt invent the nagging wife cliche. Safana didnt invent the sultry "all about seduction" woman. Those were thinly disguised sexist tropes that have existed for MUCH longer than video games. Dont take my word for it, here's one of the credited writers from Siege of Dragonspear saying the same thing
Edwin is a walking cartoon character. Monologing to himself and pointlessly evil. Minsc is super absurd too, although I dont recall a character like him beforehand. Points for originality? He's still absurd.
Even if they were cliche, they were decent characters. For the most part they weren't campy, silly, or over-the-top ridiculous. Everything i've read about the BG3 companions tells me they fit all of the previous descriptions.
Apply this to the story as a whole in fact.
Edwin, Jan Jansen and Minsc are all campy and silly and over the top. Xan sort of fits here too, taken in a different direction. Those are the most extreme examples - I suspect none of the BG3 companions will come close to being as "over the top" as those three/four.
Also, flatly - no. Jaheira didnt invent the nagging wife cliche. Safana didnt invent the sultry "all about seduction" woman. Those were thinly disguised sexist tropes that have existed for MUCH longer than video games. Dont take my word for it, here's the lead writer from Siege of Dragonspear saying the same thing
Not to take away from your point here but this claim that Amber was the lead writer, and not a lead writer, needs to go to rest. I've seen it repeated way too often over the years.
Like if you'd said the lead writer of Safana that would be one thing. Even then this was all a joint effort and everything had to get approval from WoTC (as well as incorporate feedback).
Apparently the storage requirements on Steam have been updated to say it will take 150gb of space. So I guess I'll be downloading it for like a week.
Although I think what that might just be saying is that it needs 150 gb to download and then install. So the actually download will maybe only be like 75. We'll see.
Also, flatly - no. Jaheira didnt invent the nagging wife cliche. Safana didnt invent the sultry "all about seduction" woman. Those were thinly disguised sexist tropes that have existed for MUCH longer than video games. Dont take my word for it, here's the lead writer from Siege of Dragonspear saying the same thing
Not to take away from your point here but this claim that Amber was the lead writer, and not a lead writer, needs to go to rest.
Like if you'd said the lead writer of Safana that would be one thing. Even then this was all a joint effort and everything had to get approval from WoTC (as well as incorporate feedback).
Okay. I've edited my post to reflect that. In the credits she and Andrew Foley are equally credited on the writing, with additional writing having an additional inclusion.
Apparently the storage requirements on Steam have been updated to say it will take 150gb of space. So I guess I'll be downloading it for like a week.
Although I think what that might just be saying is that it needs 150 gb to download and then install. So the actually download will maybe only be like 75. We'll see.
do we know if thats for the whole game or just ea?
i fear the size my be getting bigger. and with how slow my internet connection has been for the last 5 years 150 gb is a no go for me.
Edwin, Jan Jansen and Minsc are all campy and silly and over the top. Xan sort of fits here too, taken in a different direction. Those are the most extreme examples - I suspect none of the BG3 companions will come close to being as "over the top" as those three/four.
Also Tiax. Way I see it, BG can get away with a few silly comic relief characters because there are something like 30 possible companions between both games. They run the gamut from serious, like Yeslick, Kivan, and Valygar, to silly, like Jan.
BG3 has a far smaller cast from what I've seen, meaning every character flaw is going to shine through that much more, since you have far less freedom to choose who is right for you. And less replayability, which is a massive deal.
the most wacky characters were the gnomes. which caused a stereotype in itself as now every gnome in a rpg had to be weird. and that made grobnar exist and i hate it.
the most wacky characters were the gnomes. which caused a stereotype in itself as now every gnome in a rpg had to be weird. and that made grobnar exist and i hate it.
I believe this stereotype of gnomes created by every game designer as a one-dimensional comic relief character is what caused them to lose their status as a player race.
Edwin, Jan Jansen and Minsc are all campy and silly and over the top. Xan sort of fits here too, taken in a different direction. Those are the most extreme examples - I suspect none of the BG3 companions will come close to being as "over the top" as those three/four.
Also Tiax. Way I see it, BG can get away with a few silly comic relief characters because there are something like 30 possible companions between both games. They run the gamut from serious, like Yeslick, Kivan, and Valygar, to silly, like Jan.
BG3 has a far smaller cast from what I've seen, meaning every character flaw is going to shine through that much more, since you have far less freedom to choose who is right for you. And less replayability, which is a massive deal.
I always forget about Tiax. Never used him in BG 1, and he certainly is wacky in BG2, but not a companion. If we extended this out to "Wacky characters in general", I feel like there would be dozens and dozens of examples.
I will happily agree with your second point. The fact that BG3 has fewer companions means each one is more significant in their impact than a single NPC from BG 1 or 2. It will go both ways: if the NPCs are bad, it'll pull the game down. if they're good, then it' buoy's the game significantly.
While I cannot predict that the characters will be good or bad, the fact that they are "origin" characters means they'll probably have a lot more story/background/reactivity than any conventional companion in BG 1 or 2.
Minsc is super absurd too, although I dont recall a character like him beforehand. Points for originality? He's still absurd.
Minsc is a dumber Don Quixote. As well the endearingly chivalrous but low intelligence sidekick isn't anything new. The "gentle giant" trope. It's very well-tread territory. It's also not bad. But it is cliche seeming at a superficial level, exactly the kind of level folks are using to write off BG3 characters.
Apparently the storage requirements on Steam have been updated to say it will take 150gb of space. So I guess I'll be downloading it for like a week.
Although I think what that might just be saying is that it needs 150 gb to download and then install. So the actually download will maybe only be like 75. We'll see.
This may also be the uncompressed size. The download may be smaller.
Apparently the storage requirements on Steam have been updated to say it will take 150gb of space. So I guess I'll be downloading it for like a week.
Although I think what that might just be saying is that it needs 150 gb to download and then install. So the actually download will maybe only be like 75. We'll see.
This may also be the uncompressed size. The download may be smaller.
It might also be a placeholder number.
In any case I'll need to either finish up another game I'm playing or buy another harddrive. Then again I was planning on waiting till a bit into early access at least anyway...
Minsc is super absurd too, although I dont recall a character like him beforehand. Points for originality? He's still absurd.
Minsc is a dumber Don Quixote. As well the endearingly chivalrous but low intelligence sidekick isn't anything new. The "gentle giant" trope. It's very well-tread territory. It's also not bad. But it is cliche seeming at a superficial level, exactly the kind of level folks are using to write off BG3 characters.
Even with Minsc, we get a deeper look into him than just his jokiness. We see him slide into more uncertainty with Dynaheir's death. You can see him clinging more quickly to anyone that can provide that missing emotional support. Keldorn and Aerie being the standouts.
Comments
Not really a fan of the names with an apostrophe, but that´s a Githyanki thing so I expect to see a lot of "`"s ingame.
If we´re talking about names, I also find the name "Wyll" a little strange, personally. Well, I´m not into names like "I´m Staci with an i" and stuff like that I keep imagining the guy introducing himself
"Hi, I´m Wyll with an Y, and I´m very into warlocking and stuff. OMG, is that a holly molly tadpole in my eye?. That´s sooo last world-breaking crisis
Holly gosh, you too? I was like, chilling out and planning to crush my next mani-pedi and then that creepy tentacle guy appears and I was like... I´m not into that kinky kara-tur stuff. And it totally put a tadpole in my eye, messing up my daily fat perc and also my hair. Where I´m going to find a decent snipper in this wilderness?"
Maybe when I actually hear the guy the mental image will disappear so I´m very eager to hear the guy because it´s the only one we do not have a proper introduction.
And yeah, I assume Shadowheart is a made-up name. At least I hope it is.
We got Githyanki this time. That was bonus points for me.
Githyanki are uncommon, but so very humanlike in physiology. I'd rather have something that's pbviously in-human from the silhouette alone.
Mmm... agree to disagree on this point. Strongly.
Edwin was ridiculous and self monologued - was even eventually turned into a woman (Absurd).
Minsc was, well - if I have to explain why Minsc was a ridiculous character, then we shouldnt be talking (Absurd).
Jaheira was a sterotypical nagging woman/wife who bossed her husband around(Cliche)
Nalia was a sterotypical noble woman with a heart of gold(Cliche)
Safana is another major cliche.
Jan Jansen was the very embodiment of absurd.
"The kawaii big-eyed purple-haired gnome or halfling female with a squeaky voice" - Sounds like Alora to me.
I sometimes think people are so caught up in nostolgia that they forget that BG1 and 2 were flawed products, and a lot of their criticisms of what they expect from BG3 can be fairly levied at BG1/2.
Yep, I even agree with a bunch of Dunski's criticisms -- the vampire character seems especially weak. But with BG1 especially, many of the NPC's were one-dimensional, exaggerated cliches. Khalid is more or less one extended joke in BG1. Same with Quayle. Same with Coran even. These characters and several others are largely defined by one personality trait driven to extreme.
And I don't even think that's necessarily wrong. Minsc is a clown of a character, but highly memorable as well. So was Edwin. I'd actually argue that this cartoonish-ness is more in line with the BG series than say what the Pillars series did with its attempt at more realistic characters.
Again, I also think it's insanely premature to judge any of these characters. If someone described Minsc's character in a non-spoiler way, what would that description look like? Not too different from these BG3 NPC's, I'd argue.
A - we really dont know much of anything about the characters. So the only "over the top"ness about them comes from... a paragraph of introductory information? Something roughly equivalent to the Biography screen in the character record in BG 1 or 2.
B - We havent met all of the characters, so it's impossible to really know what the ratio of good or bad characters are going to be.
C - From the inciting post, the claim was generally put forward that the cast of BG1/2 fits into the world of Faerun and arent all that absurd (even citing Edwin as an example of a non absurd character). I think that's debatable and probably false. The majority of companion characters in BG 1 and 2 are cliche'd and/or absurd.
Edit - which is fine. They're fun to play with. I like Edwin/Minsc/Jan Jansen a whole lot. They're amusing.
Not all of them, but most of them.
I think they also said at one point that the city you see in the intro is Elturel.
A. You'll notice I specifically said "revealed so far." I already added that caveat. Its 100% reasonable to criticize known information.
B. See point "A"
C. The BG characters, by majority, weren't cliche at the time of release. Some are only considered cliches now because of what BG1 established.
Apply this to the story as a whole in fact.
if anything according to tv tropes the bg 2 cast plays with the standard fantasy stereotypes presented.
i'm just gonna post what it says about them in the spoiler as it's long.
It's not immediately obvious, but Baldur's Gate masterfully deconstructs typical character clichés: Imoen is a fairly realistic take on how a Tag Along Kid would fare in such a fantasy world (she would get herself in huge danger and almost killed), Aerie deconstructs the image of the White Magician Girl, who doesn't get nearly as much help and compassion as she would in other stories, Anomen and Keldorn deconstruct the archetype of the Knight in Shining Armor by showing that life doesn't just consist of slaying Dragons and strictly following a Badass Creed and can occasionally be arrogant and judgmental, and Valygar, instead of getting accepted as the brooding, mysterious Byronic Hero, gets Mistaken for Gay and has to deal with his Dark and Troubled Past anyways. Jan, instead of being flat Comic Relief, turns out to be Smarter Than You Look and only capable of having survived so long because of how smart he is, Viconia shows that neither of the two parts of the Jerkass Woobie trope are more important than the other (and thus functionally deconstructs Draco in Leather Pants and Ron the Death Eater as a whole), Edwin proves that an eccentric and Cowardly Sidekick is not going to be successful in life, and Korgan, seemingly being an Expy of a Hack and Slash protagonist, demonstrates that there isn't a place for Ax-Crazy people in society, no matter how Crazy Awesome they are. Further, Cernd debunks the idea of a Smart Guy who speaks entirely in parables, with some people confused by his misplaced metaphors and some treating him like a moron, Nalia fares about as well as you might expect as a Left-Wing Democrat in a country which has been an arch-feudalistic aristocracy throughout history, Yoshimo makes light of the dashing Gentleman Thief role by demonstrating you can't really rely on him in a pinch and being less sure on his feet than he likes to suggest, Eldoth deconstructs the Lovable Rogue trope by being a Gold Digger, a raging sexist and intolerably cruel towards his girlfriend, Skie demonstrates how a Rebellious Princess without formal combat training would not fare well on the road and her lack of world experience leaves her open to exploitation and Garrick demonstrates that being well-meaning and a good person doesn't make the ladies want you, and as a dashing bard he's more than a little lacking. Shar-Teel deconstructs the Feminist Fantasy type of character by showing her to be just as evil as what she rails against, and Kagain should be glad that he's a legitimately good tank, otherwise people wouldn't have tolerated his greed and he'd be out of job. About the only one who plays any classic tropes straight is Minsc, but then again, as Dynaheir says, "Minsc is... well, Minsc."
You said "Every companion revealed so far from Larian has been over the top.". I took that to mean the ones we've been introduced to, not what we know about them. Either way, you're literally judging a book by its cover.
Also, flatly - no. Jaheira didnt invent the nagging wife cliche. Safana didnt invent the sultry "all about seduction" woman. Those were thinly disguised sexist tropes that have existed for MUCH longer than video games. Dont take my word for it, here's one of the credited writers from Siege of Dragonspear saying the same thing
Edwin is a walking cartoon character. Monologing to himself and pointlessly evil. Minsc is super absurd too, although I dont recall a character like him beforehand. Points for originality? He's still absurd.
Edwin, Jan Jansen and Minsc are all campy and silly and over the top. Xan sort of fits here too, taken in a different direction. Those are the most extreme examples - I suspect none of the BG3 companions will come close to being as "over the top" as those three/four.
Not to take away from your point here but this claim that Amber was the lead writer, and not a lead writer, needs to go to rest. I've seen it repeated way too often over the years.
Like if you'd said the lead writer of Safana that would be one thing. Even then this was all a joint effort and everything had to get approval from WoTC (as well as incorporate feedback).
Although I think what that might just be saying is that it needs 150 gb to download and then install. So the actually download will maybe only be like 75. We'll see.
Okay. I've edited my post to reflect that. In the credits she and Andrew Foley are equally credited on the writing, with additional writing having an additional inclusion.
do we know if thats for the whole game or just ea?
i fear the size my be getting bigger. and with how slow my internet connection has been for the last 5 years 150 gb is a no go for me.
Also Tiax. Way I see it, BG can get away with a few silly comic relief characters because there are something like 30 possible companions between both games. They run the gamut from serious, like Yeslick, Kivan, and Valygar, to silly, like Jan.
BG3 has a far smaller cast from what I've seen, meaning every character flaw is going to shine through that much more, since you have far less freedom to choose who is right for you. And less replayability, which is a massive deal.
I believe this stereotype of gnomes created by every game designer as a one-dimensional comic relief character is what caused them to lose their status as a player race.
I always forget about Tiax. Never used him in BG 1, and he certainly is wacky in BG2, but not a companion. If we extended this out to "Wacky characters in general", I feel like there would be dozens and dozens of examples.
I will happily agree with your second point. The fact that BG3 has fewer companions means each one is more significant in their impact than a single NPC from BG 1 or 2. It will go both ways: if the NPCs are bad, it'll pull the game down. if they're good, then it' buoy's the game significantly.
While I cannot predict that the characters will be good or bad, the fact that they are "origin" characters means they'll probably have a lot more story/background/reactivity than any conventional companion in BG 1 or 2.
Minsc is a dumber Don Quixote. As well the endearingly chivalrous but low intelligence sidekick isn't anything new. The "gentle giant" trope. It's very well-tread territory. It's also not bad. But it is cliche seeming at a superficial level, exactly the kind of level folks are using to write off BG3 characters.
This may also be the uncompressed size. The download may be smaller.
It might also be a placeholder number.
In any case I'll need to either finish up another game I'm playing or buy another harddrive. Then again I was planning on waiting till a bit into early access at least anyway...
Even with Minsc, we get a deeper look into him than just his jokiness. We see him slide into more uncertainty with Dynaheir's death. You can see him clinging more quickly to anyone that can provide that missing emotional support. Keldorn and Aerie being the standouts.