Clunky UI is a clunky UI for example. Tactically uninteresting combat...
For me, these are just words. I don't find the UI clunky. Nor do I find the combat uninteresting, tactically or otherwise. That's why I find it hard to take seriously.
For instance, if I happened to be in a restaurant enjoying meal, surrounding by numerous other people also enjoying their meals, and some fella sauntered in and claimed the food was bad, the utensils barely worked and the service couldn't be relied upon... I'd roll my eyes and keep eating.
I appreciate that people have different tastes, but I'd argue that some people's "tastes" mean they're incapable of recognizing a good thing when they see it. What I mean is that if an enormous number of people like pizza prepared one way and you don't, it probably means you shouldn't open up a pizza joint.
That is a false analogy. To make it work you should be comparing the meal in one restaurant with the same meal in other restaurants. Lots of other games have better GUIs and combat systems. The GUI and combat systems in BG3 have been improved upon by modders. As for the rest of that paragraph - how is one to know that they don't like pizza without first trying pizza?
I have almost 25 years of playing FRPGs and I can live with the 5e ruleset. Along comes a game set in the FR and purportedly utilising the 5e ruleset. Why would I not be interested in playing it? Since the release of BG3 I have played WH40K Rogue Trader - post- pocolypse, distopian is not my style - and Cyberpunk 2077 - post-apocolypse, distopian, FPS not my style. Neither game is without its problems but I enjoyed them both - far more than I anticipated and far more than I did BG3. I played Elden Ring last year and didnt enjoy it one bit - I just couldn't see what the point of it was - no plot or story, no characters, just a concatenation of weird creatures to fight every 100m.
Some of us are prepared to venture outside our comfort zones.
"I'd argue that some people's "tastes" mean they're incapable of recognizing a good thing when they see it". That is not an argument, it is an assertion without any possible evidence to support it. I could easily "argue" that there are people who bought into the narrative of BG3 being the best thing since sliced bread who are incapable of accepting that the game and Larian are nowhere as good as the hype had it.
