People are very nostalgic for DA:O and forget that it was not the only game in the franchise.
Sure it was. The series began and ended with Origins. Absolutely nothing came afterward. NOTHING.
Speaking seriously for a moment though, you are correct. DAO was made during the 2000s, when the design philosophy of Baldur's Gate was still fresh in the minds of its devs and a lot of which was before the philosophy of Mass Effect and EA poisoned the company. By the time DAO was released over 15 years ago, change was in the wind in Bioware, which was why the game's lead designer, Brent Knowles, left and the subsequent DA games saw a significant drop in quality. Personally, I suspect it was not an amicable departure. Wokies are not tolerant of opposing opinions and ideologies, and all the shade they threw at Origins in the leadup to DA2's release on top of the sweeping changes made to the series' aesthetics and themes leads me to believe they were deliberately sabotaging it and everything Knowles envisioned for the franchise back when he was in charge.
Sure it was. The series began and ended with Origins. Absolutely nothing came afterward. NOTHING.
Speaking seriously for a moment though, you are correct. DAO was made during the 2000s, when the design philosophy of Baldur's Gate was still fresh in the minds of its devs and a lot of which was before the philosophy of Mass Effect and EA poisoned the company. By the time DAO was released over 15 years ago, change was in the wind in Bioware, which was why the game's lead designer, Brent Knowles, left and the subsequent DA games saw a significant drop in quality. Personally, I suspect it was not an amicable departure. Wokies are not tolerant of opposing opinions and ideologies, and all the shade they threw at Origins in the leadup to DA2's release on top of the sweeping changes made to the series' aesthetics and themes leads me to believe they were deliberately sabotaging it and everything Knowles envisioned for the franchise back when he was in charge.