Disclaimer: I am not one of the people who complained nor do I have any problems with BG3’s writing and I also have not played Disco Elysium yet. That being said, I’d recommend Disco Elysium.

It’s an older game, but I would say Dragon Age: Origins (the DLCs/complete edition make it even better).

There are fewer companions and most of them are human IIRC, but overall I think they are better fleshed out and more interesting. I liked them all more than most BG3 companions, perhaps in part because they aren’t all nymphomaniac bisexuals who try to jump in your pants as soon as you look them in the eye and say “hello”.

The story is perhaps a bit more grounded than in BG3, but I overall liked it more and though the overall world and cast of characters were more interesting. You even get a unique starting area depending on your race/class! And even though BG3 is perhaps larger in terms of actual map area, but in DA:O you explore so much more of the world and go through so many different areas with different societies/kingdoms that it ends up feeling bigger and richer in lore, IMO.

Other than that, I would maybe also add Planescape: Torment(*), Fallout: New Vegas, Disco Elysium.

^{Yes, I am aware I am a basic bitch.}

(*) Disclaimer for Planescape: Torment; the last third or so of the game was made by a different team, and you can definitely tell, but it’s worth getting through to the ending.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention this, but it might be important to some people: regarding combat, in DA:O it’s just ok, in P:T and FNV it’s just there to get you through the story, and Disco Elysium doesn’t even really have combat. BG3 has by far the best combat, so if that’s something that is important to you, then it’s worth to keep that in mind.

As a direct comparison? Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2. But pretty much everything Bioware up to Dragon Age Origins.

Personally I enjoyed both the storyline and characters in BG3, but I also highly recommend Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

The gameplay is tighter, owing to a more mechanically sound system (Pathfinder 1e versus D&D 5e), but also not as “free” as BG3. It’s a lot more difficult, but it scales better too.

With that out of the way, both the story and the characters are absolutely excellent. The game is an adaptation of the official Pathfinder adventure path of the same name published by Paizo. For the uninitiated, Paizo started out as the team within Wizards of the Coast that wrote and designed adventure modules. Wizards fired them, so they set up their own shop to keep writing kickass d&d campaigns.

Wrath of the Righeous is no exception. The scope is enormous, and you really get that classic journey from lowly adventurer to god-killing hero. The characters are excellent and many, both in the party and supporting cast. I loved BG3, but I must admit that I find the villains and plot more compelling in Wrath.

Wrath of the Righteous. Hands down, the most interesting party member NPCs I’ve encountered in a CRPG.

Unique takes on stereotypes, and you find yourself invested in even the unlikable characters.