Didn't Larian also make the Realms of Arkania (under a different name). If so then they have quite a heritage so DD is fairly far down their development timeline. Of course I could be thinking of someone else.
Anyway to address a few points. Alchemy really doesn't do anything for me as it is. It's so basic it's no different to buying/finding a potion. Ideally Alchemy should be the potion equivalent of the spellmaker system in Morrowind. There should also be many more options, such as elemental resistance potions, or even the original posion potions which can be thrown at an enemy. Anyone here ever played the Moria/Nethack type games. I loved the potions in that. So many and you had to drink them all to identify them! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
I have disagree with some of the game elements Kiya mentions because it feels bolted on rather than integral to the game. It's like hack&slash, hack&slash, oh we better add a puzzle or useful bit of dialogue for a change, hack&slash. It should be Hack&Slash(or not if you prefer to do it differently), Hack&Slash(or maybe use that sneak skill for a change without losing the experience points gained in combat) and so on. I can forgive Diablo since it only ever pretended to be Hack&Slash. DD and BD though could both be so much more. They get a 'C' for the game but a 'F' for effort.
Let me add that KOTOR whilst looking great was kind of RPG lite I feel. Thankfully the sequel looks to have greater depth and at least turning the your teammates evil! Betrayal at Kondor was dialogue lite, but it had so much freedom it was amazing really, especially when you consider its age. Chapter 1 in BaK for example could be done very quickly or you could spend an age exploring, and it made sense in game terms to do so.
