[...] For me, that is exactly what is wrong with D:OS2 (and also with BG3), in that it merges a lot of things into the game I don't at all consider to be a part of what makes a cRPG a cRPG, while also diluting a lot of things that are core to a game being a cRPG.
[...]
It is exactly the same thing Bioware did by moving away from true cRPGs to making games like Dragon Age, which also had cross-appeal between cRPG fans and non-cRPG fans.
The D:OS games and BG3 have a lot more in common with Bioware's DA games than many in this forum will be willing to admit to, but that's the truth of it. Being isometric isn't what magically makes your game a cRPG. Both D:OS2 and BG3 are NON-cRPGs that are trying to pretend to be cRPGs, and that's what ultimately really irks me. I assign a lot of value to honesty, even when that honest reality doesn't line up with my own preferences.
Huh. How do you define a cRPG? What makes BG1&2, P:Km, and PoE cRPGs but not DAO or DOSII? Can you give some example of core things that cRPGs have, or what things DOSII/etc add that make them not cRPGs?
Also, then what genre would you classify DOSII and BG3 as? They're clearly not ARPGs...do you think they need an entirely new name to describe [whatever core aspects you attribute to them]? Maybe something like Tactical and/or Adventure RPGs...
