What I'm trying to explain is that even if the map of Bannerlord were to be made smaller, the game by design is trying to make the player character be more than a single person, but rather something akin to an organization which takes away from the more down-to-earth, personal feeling Warband had compared to this game. We no longer feel like a leader of a Warband with our trusty companions, but more like a medieval company CEO, with the company being our clan or kingdom. As I said above, many functions of companions and family members require them to be outside of the player's party (caravan leader, party leader, alley guard, emissary, governor, etc.), there simply isn't as much point to our companions having as much personality as in Warband (no matter how bland their personalities already were), especially when they are randomly generated due to birth & death existing. Could they be made better, of course, there's so much more potential in terms of character, but they will always have less of a unique personality by design.