Richard

Kerry at least has the advantage of being the only romance that can potentially survive the Phantom Liberty ending. But he definitely could be fleshed out more as a character.

You can't reasonably compare the two in their approach to representation. Veilguard made its characters entire identity revolve around their orientation or gender/lack therof and it came across as forced and unnatural as well as preachy.

BG3 had even more inclusivity than most people realize, but the difference is, it never came up in the game. Tav/Durge or any Origin Character and their love interest never once brought up being a m/m or f/f couple, they were just a couple. Two people going through a shared hardship that developed feelings for each other and formed a deeper connection. The other companions or NPC's in the world at large never felt the need to bring it up it either, and that's exactly how it should be.

You want to know how to gain true inclusivity? Normalize it to the point its not special or beautiful or brave etc. Just let it be another part of life that no one notices or feels the need to bring up in conversation. It just exists as another thing you see everyday so you don't even notice it.

The best change that ES6 could make to the formula is giving you complete freedom of choice when it comes to "saving the world". Whether or not you're the "chosen" hero, having the option to switch sides and help conquer/destroy the world instead would give a lot more incentive to replay the game since it would allow multiple possible endings.

In pure damage nothing beats the Malorian Arms 3516, but my personal favorite is Archangel. You can add a scope to it which gives it a bit more flexibility and it can knock enemies down by default. I'm a bit surprised it's not mentioned in this article.