My claim has always been that they made this game for multiplayer first, and single-player is something they have grudgingly included in the game
They are continuing D:OS design. D:OS1 was a straight up coop - the story was about two protagonists and even when playing in singleplayer you had to create two characters, and have them talk with each other throughout the adventure.
In D:OS2&BG3 they try to do more of a hybrid, expanding on D:OS1 coop design, while also expanding bits that singleplayer folks care for - like companions. I see it as an attempt to bring social interaction of a tabletop to cRPG, over storytelling/roleplaying aspect of an cRPG. And while that’s not what I am looking for, Larian’s focus on multiplayer design is what sets them apart from the RPG crowd - for the better and for the worse. And there is audience for it - more or less every RPG I followed recently had its share of criticism for being “behind times” by being singleplayer.
