Fantasy novels, or any other novel, relies on the author's ability to weave a plot and mesh characters.
They don't work as games. As soon as players get involved, the plot goes to hell and the player-characters change everything. Your average FRPG campaign is fun to play but would make a dreadfully dull novel. The Hobbit would probably have started with Bilbo pickpocketing the dwarfs or trying to murder them.
narrative structure is narrative structure.
the level of agency given to the audience impacts the ability for the narrative to effect catharsis in a purely narrative form.
videogames are an ergodic mediated experience, and as such, the effect of catharsis is produced via the interactive processes at play.
one of the biggest issues with BG3 is precisely that the player character is not the agent of the story. at all. in any way - particularly because of the emphasis on the origin characters.
your game robs the player of affecting narrative outcome - BY DESIGN.
