You guys are missing my basic point, which is that there is no objective gameplay reason for BG3 to be TB. And yes, all the posts above only strengthen my point. It is entirely a subjective preference. It is a subjective preference for players, and it is also a subjective preference for Larian, though of course they will spin it as having been an objective decision. Outside of gameplay reasons there is certainly an objective reason for Larian to choose TB: purely the reason of making more money off the game.
Am I making this point in a provocative way? Sure. But that's only because I am really tired of the many, many posts here and elsewhere proclaiming that TB is the one true way for combat in an RPG, the "best", the "most appropriate", the "most authentic", blah blah blah, and everyone needs to just accept this truth.
Well, it's not objective truth in any way. RTwP is fun for me whereas TB is utterly boring. In TB combat, one might as well just have the AI run the combat. What would be the difference? The player's input is not even really needed in TB. The AI can just apply "the rules" in a perfect and optimal way. TB does not give players more choice. Exactly the opposite: it takes away player control, and the game tells the player exactly when to do what things, and if you follow the perfect script for your actions then the battle will work out perfectly for you. Heck, for many TB games, for their more "difficult" battles, there are even websites out there that will tell you exactly what you should do with each of your characters in each turn, turn by turn, in order to perfectly beat the battle.
For me, a game is not a true RPG if the combat is not chaotic and confusing and sub-optimal in terms of the decisions you make in the battle. That's how roleplaying works, and that is what is fun.
