Those games all still had proper finished endings and final content though. The quality didn't decline mid way through.
From Larian themselves...
"Oh no they found the 17,000 number," Larian boss says.
www.gamespot.com
How so? Zelda is as higher praised if not more so apart from contarians...
Lol case in point. BTW, crazy that BOTW DLC is better than Baldur's Gate 3, which in the end isn't innovative or new either. Just another modern CRPG like Pathfinder...Pillars of Eternity etc.
In the end, that other commenter is right. Larian is being treated like the new CD Projeckt Red, except their past games have been the same. They all start off good and then become more barebones and mediocre as you progress. Divine Divinity was the same, so was Divinity Original Sin and now Baldur's Gate 3.
I'm pretty sure it's just D&D simps proclaiming this to be the best game ever. I don't care about GOTY awards because they're meaningless and also one an outlet's opinion which shouldn't be taken as gospel truth but I can't wait until Zelda wins GOTY to upset all the BG3 simps. Some people conveniently forget Breath of the Wild beat Divinity Original Sin 2 for GOTY that year, despite the usual CRPG fans proclaiming Original Sin 2 is the best game and best RPG ever.
But hey if GOTY awards mean anything, I'm glad you all think Fallout 4 and Dragon Age Inquisition is better than The Witcher 3. Oh that's right. There is the other thing:
There's multiple publications so often in one year multiple games win GOTY....proving again that they are meaningless. Starfield will probably win a GOTY too this year. Oh and Hogwarts Legacy.
So how do you measure a game's success then? Player reviews? Sales? Well Tears of the Kingdom remains the highest selling game and it's only on one platform.