I stopped checking companion approval and my current playthrough feels way more alive
On my first run I was terrible about this.
Every dialogue choice became a tiny optimization problem. If I knew Astarion would hate one answer or Shadowheart would approve of another, that information was sitting in the back of my head even when it made zero sense for my character.
Eventually I realized I was basically managing coworkers instead of roleplaying.
So on this run I stopped checking approval completely. I'm picking whatever my character would actually say, even when I know someone standing behind me is about to hate it.
And weirdly, I like the companions more now.
They argue with me. Some relationships developed slower. I've gotten bits of dialogue I never saw before because I wasn't constantly trying to keep everyone happy.
It also makes high approval feel more meaningful when it happens naturally.
I think I accidentally spent my first playthrough trying to be the perfect camp manager.
Anyone else enjoy the companions more once you stopped trying to please all of them?