My main argument was that BG3 has a lot more good elements than nothing but the companions, as it was claimed in this thread by others.
Good elements =/= stand out elements.
Many RPG's have plenty of good elements. I can name many good elements for games like DoS2, PoE2, Rogue Trader, WotR, Solasta, Tyranny etc.
But simply having good elements is not the cause of BG3's massive popularity - Whereby it defied the genre niche and became mainstream. A feat that has only been achieved by select few games (Like ME2, Witcher 3, DAO, ER)
In terms of what BG3 has done that is stand out - By which I mean, is impactful enough to the average joe that they decide to pick up a game for a genre that they don't normally play. It has been the companions.
Like, not in terms of companion writing. The companions aren't groundbreakingly deep and engaging. But in terms of their sexual appeal. All across the internet, there's people lusting over Shadowheart, Karlach and Astarion. The statistics from Larian themselves show that these 3 are by far the most popular companions in the game too.
Yes, the game has other elements that are good. Which would be why actual RPG fans actually liked the game as well as why non-RPG gamers might actually stick around. But these other good elements aren't going to be attracting many non-RPG gamers to the game in the first placce.
With it also not being unique in this. Those other games that became mainstream? They also featured sexy companions/LI's. Morrigan and Alistair in DAO, Triss and Yennefer in W3, Miranda (I've also seen a fair bit of lust over Thane and Jack too) in ME2, Melina, Ranni, Marika and Malenia in ER...
Which seems to suggest that the main commonality between all these games that did the same mainstream breakthrough, is the primary reason for their larger success over other games in the genre.
