I’m not sure if there’s any soulslike other than Lies of P that has a companion in it that accompanies you throughout your journey through the game. And many people didn’t enjoy Gemini because of his quippy nature and retelling of main plot points when they happen.
Are you among those people who did not like Gemini? If yes, why and how could Round 8 have made him more to your liking?
And would you be opposed to an NPC follower that is your constant companion? Think, Solaire went along with you the entire game and helped in battle. Would you enjoy that?
Couple of things that slipped my mind earlier:
the " non boss team up" for a section of the level is also a very cool way to do a companion.
And I believe in Code Vein player runs arround with companions? not sure if they are constant or just npc summons, but I got that idea from a couple of gameplay videos I checked.