[ But it's... I'm not sure how to word it. I think the project should be worked on until it's truly complete despite how excited they may be to start something new. They knew this with dos2 but they're content with leaving BG3 with a middling conclusion. It's not about wanting new content for the sake of it. I would never say The Witcher 3 was abandoned when it ended because the ending was beyond satisfactory. But BG3's final act isn't. So I would say it's been abandoned.
Partly baselines set by expectations perhaps, but I never expected BG3 to be a narrative masterpiece. Partly, it being a Larian game. Partly because of BG2 as a game long detour from the Bhaalspawn prophecy + TOB as a hack&slash rush job trying to wrap it up quickly weren't also. This might sound surprising to some, but games aren't movies or books. They can be great even without being Citizen Kane -- or Planescape: Torment/Grim Fandango. Heck, D&D campaigns don't need to rival them either. Else both tabletop gaming as well as video gaming as interactive experiences had been dead all along. I finished BG3 before the patched in epilogue was a thing, and I was still feeling reasonably "concluded".
The biggest issue for me remains how the tadpole situation was rendered a nuisance at best. That was a wasted opportunity. BG2, when you turned into the slayer, that had a consequence. Even mechanically, such as the reputation hit. But then Gale's "hunger" was rendered as a minor nuisance at best also. Which both smells of tester feedback eventually having nerfed the potential -- something that happens all too often in big budget games, be it Bioshock or more recent in Deathloop. If mechanically there's no much consequence to anything, any such story hook is hollow. Again, games aren't books or movies.
Witcher 3 meanwhile? No dice. That never was a wholly satisfying experience to me, as the game systems are thin. My reaction to the NextGen overhaul: So when are they gonna patch in all the NextGen gameplay and quest design that doesn't boil down to brainlessly following witcher senses, all the while rolling on the floor and engaging in barebones action combat? What people are praising to heavens isn't the actual quest design here either (see New Vegas' quest flowcharts linked to earlier). It's how even minor sidequests are wrapped up in a little story and cinematics people are being used to from watching lotsa Netflix.
I bring this up because thanks to Witcher 3, I can relate to people when they're honestly UPSET when BG3 is being given praise as being the GOAT.
