I agree with you OP. To be honest, I think that Larian is trying to attract new players to the genre, such as your friend, and not to please the old ones.
I've seen posts here that say, "I wish they'd spent this money on mechanics, not cinematic inserts" like if BG3 looked like a normal traditional CRPG u know.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but then they wouldn't be able to attract new people.
And you are absolutely right when you say that 'cRPGs were largely a niche genre'. I think Larian is trying to change that.
