Will the squadmates actually have brains this time.

Squad AI will continue to do stupid things. I have no expectations that anyone will cement into place unless I specifically cement them into place behind some cover.

Brains, no don't think so. But hopefully they will be a little less incompetent.

My ME:3 squadmates served me well. But as for ME:A who can say? Did see Liam score a tech combo (and kill a few bad guys) during the VGA demo. He also hauled ass out of the mechs blast radius. But then again, during the fight with the Fiend he charged right past its line of fire (then started dodging it's minions). So it looked like a mixed bag.

I will agree that DA3's npc's do not inspire confidence. At least in DA2 my mages would back down when confronted by a melee enemy. In DA3 I have to babysit all my mages/two handed warriors/rogues.

Anyone notice Peebee had over double the health & shields of Ryder at the CES trailer (the Asari in the pink hoodie has more health/shields than the human covered head-to-toe in body armor). Maybe that was for testing purposes (or they are giving squadmates superior endurance so that they are less fragile).

For me it was Dorian. Sometimes he would randomly decide to take point. I ended up switching him out for Vivienne because at least she could off-tank.

I remember in ME2 Miranda would dance on top of crates instead of taking cover and Garrus would rush the enemy and collapse. Good times.

If MEA is going to have a run n gun style, I hope to whatever that the squad AI is up to it.

My biggest annoyance was when I was raining bullets on something and one of my squadmates would run straight into my line of fire without warning and then yell at me for hitting them. Like.... you literally ran into my bullets!! Don't yell at me!

good question
i realy hope that squad mate AI is better this time, but i don't it it will,
i guess it willbe the same as in ME3
we will have to think for them, give them orders and watch over them

Companions are just there to look pretty and make you feel less lonely. Don't expect anything else, so you won't be frustrated.

Apparently you can't even give them direct orders so they're probably even more useless this time around.

Fresh experience from the ME3 and I can confirm that the squadmates move so much better there than in Mass Effect 2 (even though I actually liked to play with Garrus and Thane with the snipers because I felt like they were the only ones who were always in the shadows, not in the middle of a fight as OP mentioned).

To the topic: I can't stand the idea that again our companion is less protected by shields/ barriers and armory. The outfit Peebee wears is ridiculous. This is space exploration.

Pretty sure they're going to be as thick as a whale omelette again, as in the gameplay trailer they seemed to be running around in headless chicken mode.
I only hope they have improved over DA:I where if a wild animal tripped on a stone the entire party would aggro & attempt to chase it across the map

Just my opinion

They can set up combos because they still have the powers to do so, but since you're not able to tell them exactly what to do anymore, I expect these "synergy combos" to be based more on luck.