To Snowram, I think the negativity might come from the claim that 'CRPGS aren't for you'. I think that's bordering on being kind of elitist. Soulslike games aren't for me because I don't find constantly bashing my head against difficult combat rewardin in and of itself. That's a question of what sort of experiences I enjoy. But if someone's problem is just that they don't have enough time in a day to play through a game multiple times, then it's not that crpgs aren't for them, they just don't have time, and framing it otherwise is kinda unfair. I also think the idea that you need to see everything in a game to get everything out of it is in general, wrong. It can be how some peopel engage with games, but to say that's the proper experience is wrong. I'm never gonna go all the way through the evil paths in WotR because I don't want to, I don't like playing evil. I'm also not gonna make a bunch of evil choices because those feel bad. ButI still think I've gotten my money's worth out of the game and then some. Same goes for Mass Effect, I've never played a renaged playthrough and I never will, because that's not a character type I would enjoy. But I still thoroughly enjoyed the series. People who need to see every path and make every choice should be catered to, but I sincerely believe crpgs would be better off if that weren't the prevailing idea.
But to your main point, I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding that pretty much everyone has about what makes meaningful choice. Or maybe I fundamentally misunderstand what makes meaningful choice and everyone else is right, who can say? And it's this; I don't think choices lack meaning just because they don't take you down a branching path that's wildly different. I think all it takes for a choice to feel meaningful is for it to meaningfully say something about your character. I think that the most important sorts of choices in that regard are the smaller ones. The ones that make variations on the path which make it more unique, regardless of the ending. For instance I'll point you to Telltale's Batman games. People bemoan telltale for the choices not feeling meaningful, but I found the fact I was able to craft a consistent character that matched my vision for what they should be to be the thing that made the choices matter. I got to the same outcome storywise in that I stopped the bad guy, but the character I had at the end felt uniqe. In one run I started as an angry, violent avenger who had to overtime learn to temper that rage with deeper purpose and responsibility, but who through it all clung to the people close to him with intense care and need. In another I created a stalward, duty-bound person who could not let go of his crushing weight of responsibility nor his black and white outlook on life. Both felt like they mattered because they both felt like MINE. So basically what I'm saying is, I think frequent, smaller choices that recognize what limits a game has are the way to go. Things that allow you to craft your character and their arc through the story.
So to Brewman's point, I've put several hundred hours into WotR across like, five or six paths and I play on a really easy difficulty and I LOVE the crusade manager, I'm always excited to play around with it, it doesn't feel clunky or like a chore at all. That's not what makes the story feel meaningful. To me what makes the story feel meaningful is that each playthrough I get to create a different character and give them a unique journey with various choices to make. The choices don't become meaningful just because they lead to vastly different outcomes (even though yes, your choices can actually lead to surprisingly different outcomes along the way) but because they were made by your character and you got a bunch of options for expressing your character's personality and ideas. And no, the story in itself isn't that engaging, but that's because the story isn't meant to be engaging by itself. It's meant to be a vehicle by which your character can experience things and do things and have change and growth. The story centres around your character and so requires you to engage more with the characters you create. One of my problems with BG3 is that it feels like our character is an afterthought compared to the story Larian wants to tell, and the kind of person our character is able to be is curtailed so they can tell that story.
