The big difference for me is the characters. I genuinely cared about Minsc (and Boo), I kept Jaheira with me as Gorion would have wanted it. I loved Edwin's arrogance and I had a crush on Viconia (I was 14). At the moment I like Gale as a character, I find Astarion intriguing but I can't work out if he wants to escape his evil ways or not. Wyll is OK but no big impressions. Shadowheart and Lae'zel are just plain annoying. I have done several play throughs of the pre-release good and evil, and rather than relaxing and playing much like I did with BG1 and BG2 I find myself on edge playing this game. One misstep and you're dead, engage in melee and your dead. I have only played the NWN and BG series. Obviously graphics and stuff have come a long way, but decision trees in coding as well as building a good story are still the same. The characters and genuinely caring for them is where it is at. Zevlor is the only character I really seem to care about.
There is no equivalent of 'Magic is impressive, but now Misc leads swords for everyone!'.....well not yet anyway.
On a plus side I must say I am really pleased to have Larian do this. Everyone is talking about DOS and DOS2 but I have never heard of them or played them. Perhaps when i've finished BG3 I'll have a look.
