Arcanum is a 24 y/o game.
VtM:B is a 20 y/o game.
Witcher 1 is a 17 y/o game.
Fallout 2 a 26 y/o game.
Game of that age didn't have the same scope as modern productions. In a modern AAA game, you can't just add a basic text answer, a low poly model with generic animations and call it a day. You need good voice acting, good mocap and good 3D models. Recent games have shied away from choice because costs have exponentially ballooned with production value. For a game company, committing to a feature that only a part of the player base will experience is basically losing tons of time and money for a small pay off. What is praiseworthy in BG3 is that it bring the old standard to the modern age, allowing a whole new generation of players to enjoy it.
Do CRPG need a big production value to begin with? No, but they definitely need it if you want more than a small niche to play your game in the year 2024.
This isn't an AAA game though. Larian are an independent studio, and the budget, while high, is nowhere near the AAA levels.
And for all the "production value" you can still count edges on your characters' shoulders and have extremely janky animations that weren't adapted for different bodies (the hip sway in the Us introduction scene was there from day 1!), and the game's character creator is downright pathetic in terms of options.
If the games needed to be all cinematic and graphically top-notch to be popular, than things like Dwarf Fortress, Risk of Rain, Terraria, etc. (not to mention perhaps the most obvious example ever) wouldn't have a gigantic fanbase. Hell, look at Undertale, even if I, personally, loathe that thing.
To justify the game's shortcomings as a result of its HIGHER budget/scope and LACK of publisher meaning lack of time constraints is counter-intuitive.
