I keep thinking about old school fans that have jobs and kids now and no longer the time or energy to devote all their time to gaming. I heard the same take constantly with regard to D2 fans that were expected to return to D4.
They are very good at it but I'm at a loss for explaining what is in the secret sauce. I'm not sure Swen knows either. I enjoyed DOS1/2 quite a bit but nothing about those screams runaway success with the 'midcore' crowd. Yet it happened.
According to Swen it is the 'systemic nature':
So he's crediting 'systemic nature' which is a very vague statement. I assume he means just having 'extra' systems like the capability of interacting with a ton of items, some crafting, some verticality, environmental combo effects etc. Basically extras that don't often amount to that much tactically but are neat nevertheless and help with non-combat activity and exploration. Coop layered on top.
"I can cast a water spell and put out the fire, this is cool". Sometimes it's that simple.
I've often given the same description of Witcher 3 - a bunch of minigames, that the player takes turns at playing and are nothing remarkable if taken individually, but taken togather and tied by a short story serving for motivation, i.e. your typical side quest, can amount to a fun half-hour or so of gameplay. You have the combat, the "follow the red trail" witcher senses, the dialogue, the horseriding, the swimming, the boxing. A quest makes use of at least three of those, taking turns a couple of times. In the end, the player is left with the impression that he chose what tools to use to get to the end of the mini-story.
I doubt there is ever going to be another RPG that does those things you describe better. Being able to shapeshift into a bird or spider or somesuch to access the second storey of a building, or the above situation a poster described with the use of a Silence spell to mask the sound of demolition - these things are wholly unique to this game, they would just be a text line with an attribute requirement next to it in any other RPG, even wonderfully reactive and esteemed games like Age of Decadence or ATOM RPG. Where BG1 and 2 were essentially just board games, this game has the potential to be a sort of isometric Deus Ex, and do it far better than the last game to try this (Hard West). That's why I'm excited, at any rate. D&D combat is rote pablum, but the systems simulation combined with big-budget reactivity and world design might create something truly special.
Uhh but that's their exact reasoning, yeah. Same for multiclassing. Which makes the whole system a lot more boring and the choice rather cosmetic if we put aside various non-combat race oriented interactions.
It's vastly different gameplay wise. Potentially there's much, much less combat but more various interactions with the game systems, see the interview above, Swen isn't lying.
It's a turn based game. That alone might make it or break it for you. Interactivity in Larian games is mostly highlighted in combat.
But how does the restriction make it more exciting?
I'd say "makes the choice an RP choice", which I'm fine with. It still ensures that playing a Githyanki Cleric (which should be a rare sight) or a Half-Orc Paladin +2 Charisma (I admit it's a disgusting sight), will be a different experience than if you instead played a Dwarf Cleric and Human Paladin respectively.
As others have mentioned, it is turned-based rather that RtwP. Some fights allow you to climb up buildings or cliffs, jump across, take advantage of the environment, Etc. For example, I initiated a fight from the second level of a house, and as the enemies tried to climb up the ladder, I shoved them off the building and all the way down a cliff.
