I don't know how going from RtWP to turn-based, removing day/night cycle or limiting exploration, among other things is appealing to large markets. In fact the trend is the opposite where many franchises (JRPGs and cRPGs) went from turn-based to action. RtWP is the midpoint between them and it seems more logic to improve it or create a new system that would be more dynamic. A game with a technology from 20 years ago was able to represent a more believable world.
I agree that at this point they will not change the core mechanics, but it looks they decided to play safe instead of pushing the franchise and the RPG genre forward. It would made more sense to start from where BG2 left instead of starting from where DOS 2 left (which had much lower standards).
Eh? This makes no sense.
You’re saying Dragon Age and many JRPGs moved towards action RPG because that’s where the bigger market is, which is fair enough. So then how is it “playing safe” to go the other way and make BG3 even more tactical and even closer to the tabletop game?
Dragon Age games are one way of “moving the genre forward” from the old Baldurs Gate games. They are still real time with pause, but with 3D graphics, fully voiced dialogue, cinematics, and a more action feel. I like them, although IMO they made some mistakes in Inquisition.
What Larian have done with Baldurs Gate is also moving forward, just in a different direction. You wanted something else, which is fine, but just personal preference. There’s no need to keep dumping on the developers.
Honestly this is a great time for RPG fans in general. A few years ago people were predicting that mainstream single player RPS were a dying breed, and building games around things like micro transactions were the only way developers could justify the costs. BioWare certainly headed in that direction, but they may turn it around for DA4 after the reaction they’ve had recently. The Witcher 3 however had phenomenal success, and with Cyberpunk, CDRP seem to be going much more RPG. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 looks interesting too. Pillars of Eternity and Pathfinder revived the old Infinity Engine style, while Larian are completely revamping turn based RPGs. Then we have the likes of Disco Elysium snapping up awards for doing things differently again.
The genre is flourishing at the moment, with different developers taking different approaches, so there’s basically something for everyone.
