This simply makes the whole scene more lively and believable.
But of course the game still has to be broad and deep and long. I wouldn't like to play more like an adventure game and have lots of cutscenes, but not a good RPG with depth and mechanics and good class implementation.
As long as the game doesn't feel too much like a tunnel, it's all good.
Imagine it the other way around. You would basically just read a text bar when you speak to NPCs.
That would speed up the game a lot and simply limit it to a few dialogs. The rest would then be less and less noticeable on the second, third and subsequent runs.
The result would be a powering through.
The focus would definitely shift to a different way of playing.
Now I have more of a feeling of immersion.
Without conversations, an essential part of the presentation and depth would be lost.
The depth could and would have to be compensated for by an even deeper world. Then, for example, the Underrealm Part 1 would have to be the standard in scope for every simple dungeon and every dungeon in order to be credible here and to sell a mysterious world.
So the scope would be huge on another level, but would it be well filled and not empty at the end?
But it would be all the more difficult in terms of presentation.
The presentation of a game is heavily based on such images and a cinematic story.
Blizzard has always been quite good at that.
Blizz has always done a good job with the cutscenes. I remember D2 after every act. That had a lot of impact.
If you do away with that on a grand scale, then you have to somehow convey that from within the game itself and I don't think it's any less effort.
But it could also work if you let it run directly in the game itself without a cutscene. If this is done well, it would even be a win.
Best as a combination of both.
But these scenes would have to be very well done and believable from within the game itself.
I don't think it's that easy and it shouldn't be too monotonous.
