I definitely felt BG2 had more charm/wit to it, both in companions and general feel. PoE seems to compensate for this with TONS of lore, with every npc giving you a massive wall of text history. I'm all for immersing myself in the game but after a while it's tl:dr - move on.
I don't mind the characters too much, they definitely enhance the game for me by joining in interactions and talking with each other. Also if you want the game harder, don't play with a min/max superteam, try using the characters and their sucky stats