Those games created cult following due to a lot of factors but one of those was the challenge. CRPG's these days have, for the most part, ridiculously easy combat encounters and mechanics, so much so that the audience is so focused on this Dragon Age difficulty curve that when AoD comes along and shakes things up, they can't adjust and more importantly, are not willing to.
Not willing to because most of the time, the difficulty in AoD is not very interesting. Difficult combat is something exciting in those mentioned games, or in Gold Box games, or in modded Baldur's Gate. But the combat system in AoD is very limited, skill does make a difference but the system is so toned down that learning it is not terribly exciting for most people. And the challenge out of combat, is mostly trial and error of where to put your skillpoints at any given time. Not something terribly exciting or cerebral. When you go into non-combat encounters for the first time, they are still fresh and interesting, using your head matters - but as the difficulty forces you to go through the same sequences so many times, unless you got the character creation right on the first try, it turns the potentially interesting CYOA sequences to be more about min-maxing your character point use than actually making smart decisions.
If the game was easier the strong points of the game would still all be there. But the retarded reload rumba in a game like this, does not sit well for most people.
Difficult games are great, but only when the systems in place that bring that difficulty are actually interesting to overcome.
ok bro
What is this i don't even...
