Gaming

To me, the biggest improvement in BG3 is how much looser the gameplay progression is. Since being just two levels behind meant death was all but certain in D:OS2, the path even on an "open" map like the Reaper's Coast was still very much on rails. XP gain was so tight that side quests weren't really optional, even to the point of discouraging roleplay by doing things like passing persuasion checks and then killing everyone anyway to squeeze every last drop out of the map. The first D:OS also really struggled with this until later in the game.

BG3's first large map is a little tight, but even a new player can easily go off script and pick and choose what quests they want to undertake once they hit level 5. Encounters with enemies two levels higher can still be comfortable after that point, even three higher if the player has a good party build or has mastery of the battle system. And the player will want to, because the game is huge. It's such a delight to just go, and it's exciting to see Larian turn a major weakness into a strength.

But essentially, BG3 meets or improves upon every system in D:OS2. The dialogue scenes are the most flashy improvement, supported well by good writing, voice acting, and mocap. The only thing I found to be a step back was the soundtrack. I don't think it's bad, and there are some standout songs for sure, but D:OS2 really excelled in that area both in terms of the quality of the music and how it was used in battle (but then I'm a sucker for cello). It also won't compare favorably to D:OS2 in its current state in terms of polish, but D:OS2 wasn't exactly bug-free on release, either.

A big part of why this game is so big in the zeitgeist right now is because Larian was able to pounce on a lull in the release schedule. I'd call the pre-release hype for this game average at worst for that reason alone. Early reviews were beyond glowing, marking a studio's successful graduation to AAA development with a game that has no aggressive add-ons or DRM. That will spur gaming enthusiasts to generate all the marketing you need.

It has been a while since I played Divinity: Original Sin 2, and I'm still in Act 1 of BG3, but from memory:

D:OS2 has fewer bugs and better performance. This isn't surprising, of course, since it has had more time for polish.

From what I've seen so far, BG3 has:

• More balanced battle mechanics. In particular, battles aren't dominated by excessive surface/cloud effects or telekinetic barrel drops, and I haven't yet had a fight where I felt unfairly disadvantaged by my party lacking one specific ability.
• Far fewer instances of the targeting UI lying to me and causing frustration in battle.
• More world to explore.
• Richer lore, as told through books and journals all over the world. It reminds me a bit of Elder Scrolls in this respect.
• More interesting writing. (This might be subjective, but I would be surprised if most people disagreed.)
• More character depth.
• More immersive voice acting. (For example, the voice actors almost always understand the context of their lines. They often didn't in D:OS 2, which I found distracting.)
• Better character animation (outside of cut scenes, some of which are a bit awkward).

The gameplay is indeed similar, of course, as it's the same kind of game, from the same studio, using a revision of the same engine. But this one is IMHO better in almost every respect, and I think I'm more likely to play it again when I'm done.

i am somewhat suspicious that people think Baldur’s gate is some novel masterpiece

Novel? Not really, except maybe to people who haven't played its predecessor, or good BioWare games, or D&D. More like an improvement on what came before it.

when really it’s that Divinity is super under rated

Where in the world have you seen D:OS2 underrated? I sure haven't.

and relatively unknown by comparison.

Well, yes, that's to be expected. D:OS2 didn't have half a century of role playing game history or Hasbro's marketing budget behind it.

A lot of the great things in D:OS2 are present in BG3 and it probably wouldn't be a success without them.

For an upgrade, Baldurs Gate 3 has great cinematics with motion capture and it feels like the dialogue writing offers more interesting, sometimes outlandish options. Often, winning a skill check just earns you a witty line, but it feels great.

I have encountered one remarkable situation were I really didn't expect something to work, but I was able to play it out exactly as I would have been able, interrupting the main characters dialogue by switching to a companion and doing something and the NPC reacted as I had hoped.

It is a DoS game, except with DND leveling, stats, and combat mechanics. Many of the stuff I find weird or backwards always traces back to DND rules. The 5e? rule book gets mentioned a lot. I don't play DND and knew nothing about it before BG3. Learning the new level-ups, stats, calculations, and mechanics in BG3 is learning DND. There are a small amount of Sorcery point spells in DoS, but most of the spells in BG3 are Sorcery points. The normal spells that don't cost sorcery points are called cantrips, and there are very few of them. I wish all the spell casters in BG3 were warlocks, as they play the closest to DoS spell caster classes, but only get 2-3 spell slots per battle. That's 2-3 spells they can cast per short rest. It wouldn't be so bad if everything refreshed on a short rest. And warlocks cast spells at their max level too, so you don't have to be forced to cast level 1 spells at endgame like the other spell casters. Also, warlocks are pigeonholed into using 1 normal spell (cantrip) all the time, eldrich blast. At least it's powerful and fun to spam.

There are also a bunch of ritual spells, which are not labeled when looking at the level up screen. They don't cost spell points outside of combat. Talking to animals spell is one, which is nice for roleplaying/talking outside of combat (and I highly recommend talking to all the animals).

Conentration spells are also a mence, because you can only have 1 active per character. Summon a cloud? Need concentration for that. Summon a fire or rock wall? Concentration. Cast a buff on allies? Concentration to maintain it. Use them, but they limit the interactions a lot.

Talking about interactions, there are far fewer elemental ground effects and interactions. Some are in the game, but you have to take like 2 turns to do damage because most surface effect spells don't do damage. Explosive barrels are still fun.

That being said, the new common actions (jump, dash, push, dip, etc.) are a great addition to the game.

I recommend the game still, because it's mainly DoS with DnD combat. The story is better, and like the witcher, has a lot of heart and soul poured into the stories (and lots of sex and nudity, which can be disabled in options).

Also avoid fextralife wiki. Use the bg3.wiki as that's going to be maintained better. (I'm not going to be talking about the drama with fextra here).

One last thing. The game is easier than DoS, and gets easier as you progress. I hope there will be a harder mode coming.