How could you compare the old games with this new one and use the TOB argument ?
In the old games you HAVE to go to the merchants all the time, just to buy arrows and to sell things because your inventory is limited.
In BG3 you never have to except to buy a better armor or a better weapon once or twice.
How could it be a problem to wait for a shop to open in a game where shop is something you just don't really need and/or in which you can easily wait.
Was that a complaint in games like Kingdom Come Deliverance or the Witcher 3 ? I don't think so... and it also wasn't only cosmetic...
As for the witcher 3, I don't even remember if it was really a cosmetic. Time probably didn't matter in general there. What did it matter if you could change your time freely at any time.
Kingdom Come is a slightly different story, the game was primarily realism (to exaggeration) for which it was also heavily criticized.
