I think the crown of the character-driven CRPG has been in the gutter since DA:O (and the certain purchase of a certain studio by a certain company), and Larian has a real opportunity to take it for themselves. I don't see why they can't do it, given they played such a massive role in the CRPG renaissance and are clearly laying claim to it by making Baldur's Gate 3. It is simply a matter of ambition.
Of course, part of "character-driven" means immersing the player in the world and making its characters react to said world, to create the illusion of living characters in a living world, whether that's decision-reactivity, intra-party interactions (companion-to-companion, PC-to-companion, and PC-to-companion-to-companion), environment-reactivity, event-reactivity, or conversational continuity (like when Shadowheart says she couldn't help but overhear after the PC discusses tadpoles with another, or if one companion says one thing after story point A, it would be nice if another companion had a reason to bring it up after story point B). Also, giving the companions substance and personality, combined with making them talkative, is just fun, and it was fun in BG2. Actually, it was more than fun: It was a driving factor of replayability, making different party combinations and quest combinations to make different kinds of stories.
I, for one, believe in the dream of Emperor Larian. Or Empress.
