They do a great job of making things feel real and meaningful too. My last playthrough was supposed to be an evil playthrough, but all of the characters are so real that I couldn't do it. I actually killed Karlach and felt so bad about it that I reloaded and recruited her instead. This playthrough though, which is my 3rd one, I'm forcing myself to make different choices and I'm amazed at how much it changes the game. Like I betrayed the grove and Karlach somehow heard about it before I found her, so she was pissed and fought me instead of trying to join me. I also did the mushroom quests and then fireballed the group when they were all celebrating, just to see if it would let me, and it totally does. I love the freedom that they give you in this game.