I used to prefer previous Larian titles too, especially the two early titles Divine Divinity and Beyond Divinity. The dark fantasy was strong with those, unlike titles that came after (including BG3 that was a bit too clowny to feel like proper dark fantasy to me).
My main problem with turn-based games is that there are too much useless easy fights, and we cannot avoid them. A problem that doesn't exist in RTS, RTwP/Autobattler (which are almost the same) as you can safely do other things without having to micromanage the fight. The lact of autoresolve is, to me, the main let down for many turn-based games. An AI could solve the issue and allow us to only fights meaningful fights.
A secondary concern is that even with Honor Modes or roguelike features, turn-based games remain very unsatisfying in term of strategy-tactics. Everything is far too obvious to solve, even with RNG. RT games introduce our own motricy within the equation as "time is of the essence" and therefore add a lot more parameters to consider.
Overall, it breaks immersion for story based RPG with strong roleplay elements.
I hoped Larian would compete on Blizzard's turf or Bethesda's after its big DoS2 and BG3 success, but I guess we'll have to wait. I mean, those two genres need a refresh from ambitious companies, even if Path of Exile is doing a great job and KCDII is more than satisfying. I really thought Divinity would be the prequel to Divinity II and feature the same kind of gameplay (and then be more on Bethesda's turf than Blizzard's one), but my excitement was quickly turned down for this title and I'll pass it, again. There're better designed turn-based games around for fighting and strategizing, as I don't play those for the story but more for those that are designed like die&retry (roguelikes mainly). And plenty of excellent RPGs that suit the game design I enjoy the most for them.
Anyway, best wishes for the studio, and enjoy Divinity for those who enjoy TB design.
