People seem to forget that CD project's first project wasn't the Witcher, but actually the translation of BG into polish. I really don't see how can you deny the connection between the Witcher series and Bioware. Sure, somewhere along the way the apprentice became the master (I think the differences between DAI and Witcher 3, two games with very similar goals, proves it), but that's the greatness of cd project. There is a learning curve in every game they make, and you can see it quite clearly. While Bioware kinda stayed in a sort of weird stagnation that eventually lead to major deterioration, they innovated with each new entry.

About gameplay Vs story - I don't see how Kotor 2 or fallout New Vegas are any less RPGs than pillars of eternity. Sure the combat is super different, but think about what you actually do in the game outside of it and tell me it's not an RPG.

Larian's Biggest Oversight, what to do about it, and My personal review of BG3 EA
"74.85% of you stood with the Tieflings, and 25.15% of you sided with Minthara. Good outweighs evil, it seems."