I try not to be negative internet guy, but 12 hours in I'm kind feeling meh about the companions.

They all seem a little to comedic and jokey, for one thing. Kingmaker had some of that but it wasn't the dominant personality trait of 3/4ths of the cast. I know this kinda thing is really popular nowadays thanks to internet memes and Marvel movies, but I dunno... it's a little too overdone here for my gen-x self.

Secondly all the companions so far are really focused on utility characters and more abstract classes. Which is fine and maybe less boring than usual, but my life for a strong warrior you know? A DPS machine? I mean I just made one at the bar so whatever, but it would be nice to use all official companions.

Anyway loving the game but wanted to point out this one iffy aspect for me.

I thnk the lady paladin you get at the beginning is a decent tank. I also got a tiefling arcane trickster who so far is damage machine. But the others your right, a Spirtual Hunter shaman who fights with a rapier seems wierd and out of place., The Zen Archer seems pretty limited to being into anti mage/anti range character. I just encounterd a witch who I hope will fill out the mage roll on my team but I have a feeling that her crazyiness will wear thin and perhaps just cause problems down the road as those types invariably do. I also have a sub companion of sorts just in case you haven't found it I won't spoil it :)

The problem I'm seeing with my tanks is that they don't have enough movement. They are still on the way to melee when my ranged weapons have already taken out the baddies....

I personally like companions. But reason might be because I did Alpha and Beta test.

It can be true that in first they do not "tell they life story" but that is OK. I actually prefer it. After all companion who is full of misery and tell his/her life story when you first meet is not someone I want around (in real life or in game).

But what is told from companion stats.. ..it really depend how you build them up later. One of the big things what effect for that is your PC (aligment, class, build and so on).

Do I want to use Seelah as tank + Camellia front fighter and Wenduag using polearms with Outflank (Teamwork Feat) all of them? Or maybe I want to use Wenduag with Throwing Axe and dual wield them while Camellia is buffer who summon undead and stay behind using crossbow while Seelah ride forward using her WarHorse (animal companion) and 2-hand sword or long spear trying to trample her enemies?

Yeah the paladin is fine, I was more aching for a big DPS machine in the beginning. Maybe they expect most people will make a big DPS character, but I made more of a support type and then just felt like I kept running into more support types. I'm sure it improves as you go.

For now I made a merc two-handed warrior and that's working out fine.

Not sure if i can agree on that some Companions are interesting (story wise)
i don't care much about how they are build.

for example Amber is interesting (reminds me of Aerie without the whining)
Daeran might have a interesting story same with Woljif (his shadow is interesting expect a story behind it more then he tells what it is)

There should be an option to slow your other characters for this very reason.

Pretty sure that's a bug with the last hotfix, should be fixed quick.

As someone who generally dislikes the witty banter single player games attempt to pass off as camaraderie, I'd call your opinion a fair critique. Even when compared to Pathfinder I find Wrath of the Righteous' companions less likeable, so just as I did in Pathfinder I have started the process of replacing them with mercenaries who won't engage in the petty remarks the A.I. companions do. Ultimately not having the A.I. companions in my party seems like an improvement on the game, rather than a detraction, but others will invariably feel differently and that's okay.

I'm also not a huge fan of the classes of the companions I've encountered thus far, which is hardly a big deal since I didn't come into the game expecting to use them much outside of their personal quests. Still, it makes me wonder what the pre-beta play-testing revealed to make the first six companions what they are?

Looking at the companons I can see what they wanted with the NPC's. You will be in a crusade against demons so it fits to have companions capable of casting divine magic (Clerics, Paladins, Oracles) as such classes have spells that work well against outsiders (demons are chaotic aligned outsiders that are mostly evil as well).

Another theme is that they wanted to shine some light on classes that are not core (core classes such as fighter wizard, rogue and cleric), Such as the slayer and witch and archetypes (such as Zen Archer).

There seem to be a lot of companions who are good at ranged, which might cause a bit of an unbalanced party.

Companions have an overal lack of good mobility (ie fast movement speed) with the ironic exception of the zen archer who does not need the movement speed in a party that lacks other high mobility classes.

You could compensate a lack of mobility with spells like Expeditious retreat though that requires a spell slot and is not avaiable to every class that might need the extra speed.

Alternatively, magical items that boost speed such as Boots of speed, if they are in the game, also help.

It really seems designed around the assumption the player will make a strong warrior type, which is kind of silly. Even much later in the game now I still feel like that's the case, though there's a few left to find in chapter 3 apparently.

I have the game but not installed it yet. Is it possible to not recruit any of the companions and just make your own party?

You can hire your own cutstom party eventually.

Good to know thanks. So do you have to recruit those companions? If so is it possible to just say no to them and go without? I would prefer an icewind dale like party creation from the start. Hopefully a mod comes along that makes that possible.