Being connected to the original games is about a holistic connectivity to them across the board. SImply throwing in a few characters from the old games does NOT achieve what people are talking about when they complain about a lack of connection with the old games.
The actual city of Baldur's Gate is a pretty strong connection, imo. I hadn't realized how faithfully it's been recreated until I saw a video breaking down the trailer. I've never finished BG1 or tried BG2, so I've never experienced the namesake city. If Larian can do it justice (which it looks like they could) it would be more than a cosmetic connection between the games.
Funnily enough, the actual city of Baldurs Gate was NOT in BG II, instead, the big city was Athkatla But that being said, I think it is pretty clear there are going to be strong connections based both on what is already in the game (I mean, just look at the symbol of the absolute. I wonder who that could be), and some of the datamined content.
Sure, it is not necessarily the Bhaalspawn Saga anymore (from what we know from EA, we do not even have 1/3 of the story), but imo it IS a worthy sequel, and in the end it is only a stupid name. What is important ultimately is the quality of the game, and though there are certainly some things to be critizized, I am very happy with that so far
