Do y'all think COC2 would've been better if the PC went solo instead having companions, or at least if companions came in a form similar to the camp followers in COC1? I personally would have preferred it to be that way honestly.
Imo I don't think so. Most obviously, the characters like leofric, takahiro, etc, the self insert power fantasy types would skyrocket and you'd probably wind up with cait, brint and the others standing around talking about how much box they smash and demons they killed. Having a party system also helps with natural player attachment, and adds more variety and lite rpg theorycrafting. It ideally has moments for more immersion like atugia checking the ship engine with you in gweyrs quest, it can give examples on builds you can copy or adapt after seeing one of them do really well, and it allows utility builds like tanks, healers and bards instead of various flavors of nukers. If done properly it'd be like asking if mass effect would be better as a solo game, but it's been done so iffy here that it is a genuine question.
You have several characters intended to be companions then abandoned like shar, you have characters that are there because the devs like them and don't care if anyone else does, you have characters that haven't received content for so long that they either require a new writer or get 3 different writers on the same one making them bipolar with polar opposite fetishes and going from monogamous to blowing a stranger for the lulz, then you have some like brienne that hard carry the game (not for everyone but a sizeable amount) and the lead devs, instead of competitively trying to make their characters more likeable or give them more content or fix their issues, try to insult and badmouth the threat to their characters or writing. Several new characters like aileh blow pre existing characters (including kinks) completely out of the water from the ground up, better child interactions, direct involvement with a possible current long term goal with the antagonist/love interest, no commentary on Japanese politics or japanese themed characters that treat you like crap because he read books that said they do.
Nearly the entire party has issues and now Berwyn is being removed. So we have cait, who nobody likes really besides her body and kit and is shoehorned in several places. brint/brienne who is wrote very well as a friend, lover, and ride-or-die companion. atugia whose content is incredibly little and with them streamlining her recruitment they removed some more already etheryn who's popular but apparently her new main writer has a female oc so etheryn will require a Conan the barbarian type to grow a vajayjay, and any talk of etheryn growing one opens a entire gender debate or ridicule. azyrran who went from open relationship to basically cuck-lite in the dawnsword quest with her talking about how awesome liaden is, hugging her, talking about more alone time with her and blushing, how liaden saved the hive, how liaden needs and deserves the sword, then noticing you and borderline going "oh hi mark". Even caits more affectionate than she seems right now imo, az just seems monogamous for liaden but wants a backup, at least for a male mc. Berwyn who's being removed from the party, quin who's around so people can talk about how hot and cool he is and how strong his magic is, arona who's pretty well written but also pretty niche, either borderline abuse dom or waifu sub. Kiyoko who apparently has 2 modes, "omg I love you never part from me you are my soul mate gib BABY NOW" or "you have no rights besides cleaning my toilet, now sit there quietly while I eyebang nakano and wish a real man like him was my husband", agnimitra whos pretty good for a nympho kink but a bit too much of a excuse to have lines like "actually cait is really strong and brave and awesome", and Viviane who is just the Google search "sexy nude witch" they decided to make a companion instead of preexisting characters with histories or gender variety like Garrett.
Removing Berwyn is a very very bad move, whatever reason they have for it they really should have chucked their dumb "companion deadline" out the window and begged einens writer to finish her, they're going to milk Patreon another few years anyway and their continuing practice of removing content is getting worse all the time and they need to replace gaps at the very least.
