Because the reviews aren't made by the bigger audience that is easier to please, instead those are made by game designers, developers or people who actually belong to minorities like those you describe(1). To me there is nothing wrong in assuming some people is easier to please, but then if you actually please the hardcore minorities of people who are a little more perfectionist, with an eye more detail oriented, you will also please the bigger audiences (in most cases).
I would like to emphasize this, but I don't want it to sound arrogant: people who aren't seeing any problems with BG3's gameplay are being more permissive when it comes to details, to verisimilitude, with perfectionism(2). And that is not bad, it doesn't mean they are stupid, it just means that they don't care about those little things, they will have fun anyways.
It is not my ideas or my own voice that I am preaching, I am talking about a part of the gaming community that does care for those details and who think that the game needs some gameplay fixes, and to quote some reviews too you will see that I'm definitely not the only one hoping for some gameplay changes:
Collider:
"You won’t find remarkable combat here. In fact, I often found myself trying my best in dialogue to skip combat when possible. It’s tedious and takes a long time, a downgrade from the addictive terrain-based fights in DOSII"(3)
GameSpew:
"All the ingredients are there. But with the graphics to be further improved, more content to be added, the gameplay tweaked and the player character to be given a voice... "(4)
GameSpot:
"I found the tone of much of the writing to be a turn-off - the dialogue itself feels off to the extent that I'm not convinced anyone wants to be there."
"That your primary character remains silent during conversations, while everyone else is fully voiced, only exacerbates the problem, heightening the sensation you're playing as an interchangeable mannequin"(5)
Polygon
"The act of playing Baldur’s Gate 3 is a rough one because of how slowly it moves and how constrained it feels to have to play this rule system “by the book.” It’s like hanging out with the worst rules lawyer on the planet."(6)
IGN
"There’s also nothing I could find to stop me from heading back to camp and resting after every single fight, though, which tilts the scales too far in the opposite direction. If I can fully heal and regain all of my spells whenever I want, Baldur’s Gate 3 loses the feeling of being on a long and dangerous adventure on which you must think carefully about your limited resources, which is a staple of D&D"[/color](7)
These were basically the same things you probably heard me and so many other users in this forum complain about, camping breaking immersion, mute main character, combat needing a re balance or some rework. If so many people (even though still a minority) are saying the very same thing... then maybe Larian should try to listen?(8)
1) No, the people who write those reviews are not game designers, developers, etc. They are everyday people who can regularly write a review. As I will point out in the negatives you have cherrypicked, in many cases they are clueless.
2) I have not seen a single post on this forum with someone saying the game or even the combat system is fine as is. At 450.8 hours, I am probably one of the biggest fanbois here. If I am being honest, I could
live with just bug fixes and added content. Now live and
want are very far apart. You can find plenty of criticisms from me. For example, I have stated multiple times that the movement system is atrocious. Annoyances range from small ones like casting a spell on a party member and having them run around like cockroaches in a foul kitchen that has just had the light come on to huge ones like having to split your party apart and jump them individually or else they are in their own way. I won't even go into how many times I have moved one character slightly and the other three all step in fire. Again criticism and suggestions are encouraged by me.
3) How many people in these forums have complained that combat in BG3 is too much like DOSII, yet this clown wants it more like it? WTF?
4) We know the player will be given a voice in spite of some people here not liking it. So this reviewer didn't even do any research to see what is already on the horizon. Amateur hour.
5) Again, see #4.
6) Yeah, it's purposefully constrained by a rulebook called DnD 5e. How many people in these forums complained that Larian deviated too far from the rules? And this clown thinks they need to deviate further???!!!
7) I am in favor of this. However, IMO it would alienate more people than it would please. Therefore, I have requested it being an option as part of a complex difficulty system. Doubt Larian listens, but I can always hope.
8) And we have examples of them listening. Hopefully, patch 3 will contain yet more examples. Some things though, I feel are a waste of breath. For example, please continue to ask for a dynamic resting system, but IMO there is a ZERO percent chance of it. Again, we can hope.
