There isn't much I can add. BG and ID had bigger parties, AFAIR.

So far I couldn't really choose my party members. There was an opportunity to select who should accompany the main character, but of course I decided to fill up all four slots.
There's also no char generation.

The production values are pragmatic. Leaving out the loot saved them probably 70% of the graphics they would have needed. The world graphics are dark and gritty. Everything looked consistent, but not high end. Typical A production niveau, like most Euro RPGs.