Got any examples? I’ve been a crpg fan since my teens, but there’s so many I haven’t tried. Any game that deserve success more than bg3 is a game I should probably give a shot!
I think Pillars of Eternity is way better than BG3 - I prefer its combat, story, writing and art style. It’s also a very big game, fairly similar to BG3 I think. It also has a sequel which I haven’t played yet.
I just played through Pillars of Eternity, and though it’s very good, I don’t think it’s even close to BG3. So many times there appeared to be a way to talk your way out of a thing, only for the NPC to decide that it can only be resolved via combat, and there was so much combat that it became exhausting. Your party would start taking damage that they shouldn’t have just because you’re advancing combat faster than you should out of decision fatigue. Even with liberal auto pause settings, 15 different events could trigger in combat in the blink of an eye, and it’s very easy to miss what even happened. Leveling up most classes has minimal depth, and the way priests and druids in particular gain new spells is far less elegant than 5e’s “upcasting”.
For all those gripes, I still enjoyed it. And in the first 5 hours of Pillars of Eternity II, nearly all of those complaints are well addressed. Even with the vast improvement in the sequel thus far, I’d still say not only the production value of Baldur’s Gate 3 is better but BG3 inherently benefits from the systemic framework Larian’s had for about a decade now, allowing you to come up with creative solutions to problems. You’re entitled to your opinion, of course, but I think it’s a hard sell to say Pillars is more deserving of that success.
I can respect the first paragraph, even though I disagree (it honestly just sounds like you prefer turn-based combat, which is fine but not an issue with the game). The other points apply to many cRPGs (combat is part of the game, even games like Planescape have unaviodable combat). Levelling is worse in Pillars though, I agree.
The second paragraph doesn’t really say anything though - Obsidian have also been making cRPGs for a long time, and Pillars is full of intersting solutions for problems. Honestly it’s very hard for me to say which game is better in this regard.
All in all these complaints (even if I completely agreed) do not lead me to the conclusion that “I don’t think it’s even close to BG3.” The only thing “not even close” between those games is how much they cost to make (which IMO makes some of BG3’s issues, like launch bugs and the state of the third act, much less acceptable).