Well, I don't know about engines and what they allow. As a gamer I just look at what's possible in other games.
And just to be more specific, i'm not talking about the art design in the game, which is actually very good. For the most part the artistic elements are creating the right 'feel'. It's the visual implementation and detail that's really lagging behind what I'm used to seeing in other games.
Here is a scene I just recorded in DOS 2
When I look at the skeleton, I don't see an animate creature that's talking to me, while also struggling to get free, and moaning and groaning, etc. All I see a skeletal outline that's doing reverse push-ups on that table. (I think it's a combination of lower back and triceps workout) As a general rule I'm not against skeletons exercising on tables, but this is just not the place or time. But joking aside, there's a gap between what I hear from the narrator and what my eyes see. Too large of a gap.
Even the first Dragon Age game (2008 ?) had characters that actually looked like they were talking to each other, and also some excellent scripted scenes that really added to the storytelling.
p.s. The more I think about past games, the more I want to reinstall Witcher 3 for another playthrough (4th I think). When I finished DOSEE I never felt like playing it again, and I don't see this changing with DOS 2 so far. One reason for that is precisely that visual aspect; because I know that even when I play a totally different origin story with a different party composition, the only real difference I will see in the game is different cardboard outlines staring at each other (and maybe doing push-ups).
