BG is *the* western cRPG that set the standards for every western cRPG that followed.
Can't say I agree. Many TB came before the BG1/2. The pendulum swung in the RTwP direction, but it has started to swing back toward TB (as DOS2 massive success proves).
Part of the magic of the BG formula was the feeling of being led through an adventure by a GM, filling in exposition as needed.
DOS2 used narration. As much as BG games? Maybe not, but it's there
While DOS2 and BG3 might not be exactly Isometric, they aren't exactly 3D either. Even so, I don't think the isometric style of BG1/2 has any more or less of a place today than does the maze-like style of games like Wizardry or Might & Magic. It's just dated.
The music was flat and uninspired.
Music can take a little while to sink in, especially if it has substance. I don't remember the music from the demo either, but the music from DOS2 was stellar in my opinion. So, hopefully, they can do the same in BG3
Perhaps, but I am not so sure. At some point, too many party members would require that many more mobs and you end up with super long turns. Is 4 where the line must be drawn? I doubt it. Also, "D&D is a collaborative story telling game first, a table top strategy second" isn't necessarily true. Some people find it so, others find it equal, while still more find it the opposite.
The tone of the lighting and assets.
This is just don't get. What you might call "dark" or "gritty" I just call crappy. Graphics have just gotten better. If part of that means the availability of a wider and deeper color selection, as exists in life, then good. If you think the world of BG is supposed to be dark and gloomy, I would again say no; it just looked that way because of the graphical limitations back then. Faerun isn't Hades.
It took 28 minutes to kill the BG equivalent of rats in the store house. Let us have that sink in. What is going to happen when you are up against a boss with a small battallion of guards at his beck and call?
Have you played DOS2? Battles don't take hours, even the biggest of them. Sure, they take longer than what is found in action games and RTwP games; but in my opinion, it just makes that much more meaningful.
I honestly think it is the minority of TTG purists who have pushed the recent sentiment that all of a sudden RTwP games are bad games, as if to completely ignore the 20 year legacy of BG
BG's legacy might be 20 years old, but D&D's legacy is much older. BG isn't the benchmark you think it is. D&D is the benchmark. Since Baldur's Gate games are D&D games, it seems perfectly fine to me to go back to the roots of the game with TB.
With all that being said, thank you for the detailed post.
