I actually kind of agree...? When I think bg2 I think Athkatla and big story and epic dragon fights, but the one word I would use to describe the original would be wilderness. Sure you had Baragoset and Baldur's Gate itself (much later into the game) but I think I've spent most of the original just wandering around and stumbling upon cool shit
I think BG3 has a long way to go if it wants to be even vaguely reminiscent of the classic saga, but I do like how general... act structure in terms of places visited seems to be a callback. Intro sequence -> wilderness -> BG. I just hope BG is soon after Act 1 - in BG1 it was a bit too late into the game imo. It would be great if BG3 had BG as "the main place" throughout most of the game.
