Even though I'm a very oldschool gamer and have been playing computer games since the days of Tower Toppler, Prince of Persia (original ones) and Lands of Lore, I probably shouldn't place such importance on graphics... but as an artist and graphic designer, I really, REALLY appreciate how far graphics and animation have come in recent years, and it adds a lot to my immersion.
BG3 graphics are really, really amazing.
Aside from graphics, I love an exciting story, and well written characters/companions. I could spend hours in game just running around talking to people and learning their stories. Again, to me, Dragon Age series did this extremely well, and BG3 is also right up there. Re-playing DA:Inquisition while taking a break from BG3 waiting for Patch 5 to drop, again I really see a difference in the graphics and face animations in the past few years - the BG3 companions' cutscenes, their expressions are amazingly well animated. In DA:I the faces and expressions are a bit "wooden" probably due to the technical limitations of the time. I marvel at today's motion capture technology.
And speaking of companions, good voice acting. BG3 has great voice acting. Great acting all around, if we remember that the voice actors are doing the movements and actions of the characters as well.
Romances are icing on the cake.
In-game lore, books to find and read, and other little bits and pieces - again I could (and do) spend hours in game running around not advancing the main quest but discovering little hidden treasures. Also watching youtube videos to learn more about the lore of the game and background story - not being familiar with either BG1 or 2, or DnD in general.
Music is also very important to the overall feel of a game. It may be blending into the background most of the time, but if the music is bad, you definitely notice it.
Player choices - I love the "choose your own adventure" aspect of RPGs, but am also more than happy playing one of the pre-made characters and enjoying the work the writers have put in. After playing a few custom characters, I'm very much looking forward to playing as the BG3 Origin characters and learning their perspectives on the story and encounters I'm now familiar with.
Combat, mechanics, skills, inventory, crafting, all that more mundane stuff... not a big deal for me, and certainly not deal breaking. I'm not used to BG3's turn-based combat or DnD rules, but learned it quickly enough. When it comes to inventory, crafting etc, that is too much like managing a real life house. I don't want to have to spend an hour sorting out inventory, crafting materials etc after a day spent chasing a young child, endless cleaning, endless cooking, and endless laundry. :P I outsource game inventory management and skill management to my husband most of the time - I just hate dealing with it!! With limited game play time after said child is in bed and before I'm too exhausted to think in the evenings, I just want to jump straight into the story/action.
