The PS4 had better games in terms of overall library.

But I already have a PC for its multiplats and its exclusives? Don't make me laugh. The Wii U did better, and so too did the Vita (such an underrated platform, I got one recently)

While I may "overrate" D:OS a bit, D:OS still has a higher metascore than DA:I.

Yes stuff like that suck, when bosses kill enemies before oyu get a chance to act. I hated this in Tactics Ogre: LUCT as well, where that dumb woman in yellow got herself killed before anyone in my aprty could reach her.

D:OS's quests were decent or passable, there was some interconnection between them, and I actually had to use my brain to solve them. The quests in DA:I felt like they were procedurully generated, and I could shut off my brain while doing them.

I call DA:I's world lifeless because it felt procedurully generated. DA:I's world by comparison felt handcrafted, and as a result, had a lot more personality and density, and was considerably more memorable.

More well written, perhaps, then again... Sera, Dorian, and gods know how many more poeple.

GOTYs are popularity contests. And D:OS is a niche game, of course it doesnt get many GOTY awards. However, how will DA:I and D:OS be remembered in 10 years? I see some journalists already get past the honeymoon stage for DA:I, but D:OS is as well regarded as ever. That is how I judge the quality of games. Skyrim was loved by nearly everyone at launch. However, its reception has soured quite a bit since then. Of course, Skyrim is a much better game than DA:I, especially with mods like Requiem.

Starting a brewmaster monk in World of WarCraft, only to realize that everyone dreads having you in their group at level cap.

And...?

What the critics say does not necessarily mean the best. Actual RPG fans, particulary those of an old school flavor, tend to greatly prefer Divinity.

Not to mention, journalists man... lets not even get started into how well it is going for those guys

That is called, being willing to see your own mistakes, it takes some degree of honesty to do that. It is the overall experience that matters, games dont start from 10 and go down from there. The quest design, itemization, combat, encounter design and pacing are all far superior to DA:I's mmorpg-esque quests, stackdamage itemization, mmorpg combat where you can kill the final boss using only 2 commands, copy paste encounter design where there is no mechanical variety, and forcing players to do fed ex quests to continue the story.

While it may not have gotten many GOTY awards. D:OS did get PCGOTY here AND Durante placed it on his list. Something he didn't do for the DA:I. And when asked why, he simply said, it is not a very good RPG.

It is the overall experience that counts, and the overall experience is good enough so that the flaws dont detract all too much from it. Mount&Blade: Warband was one of my favorite PC games of last gen, yet that game has even more flaws than Divinity: Original Sin. The only significant flaws you listed are the combat not being as great as it is post act 1 and the high level character progression being rather meh.

But lets not overlook DA:I's flaws here, while D:OS's flaws remained for most of the part outside the game's core. DA:I was flawed in the core, with its lifeless world, broken combat mechanics and David Gaider-tier writing.

Hardly offtopic at all, some people were upset by the lack of mention of DA:I of the games he mentioned. Others rejoiced and cherished his choice.

That said, I do not think that DA:I belongs in the renaissance of the cRPG genre, not only because I see it as a poor game (heck, even some critics are starting to get rather critical towards it now), but also because it quite frankly embraces a lot of what was wrong with RPGs in the past decade.

I assume both the AAA way of doing things (DA:I, ME, TESV ect) will continue, and the revived old school way will continue to, independantly going seperate paths. Who knows, maybe we will see another sub genre split again. Just like we saw with cRPGs and jRPGs.

As for homosexuality, I would rather see the complete removal of romances overall. Be it gay or straight. You dont need LGBT romance options to play as a gay character. I roleplayed a homosexual quite extensively in a tabletop game back then, and he never had a lover or even a romantic or sexual encounter. Of course, homosexuality was never a defining trait for that guy, something that BioWare seems to make with SOME of their characters.

Perhaps this was the case because it was not a combat focused RPG.

The strengths in the game lied in the questing, the combat was the weakest link.

No one seems to be able to agree on what an RPG is. So I dont see the point in bothering anymore with trying to define it. As far as I am concerned, this

Is an RPG.

Yup, for all the doom and gloom in general. At least there was some light. We got RPGs that actually embraced the strengths of the genre, rather than attempting to be something they are not.

I also agree on Mask of the Betrayer being the best RPG of last gen. Regarding DA:I, I would be bashing that game if I wanted to. But someone on this board, clearly can not handle negativity towards DA:I, to the point where he hurls out namecalling like a child in a tantrum.

I was simply referring to RPGs on computers, be they Personal Computers (PCs) or otherwise (consoles/handhelds). Provided that they do not strictly fit into the JRPG category.

I actually enjoyed JRPGs a whole lot more than cRPGs the 7th gen. Be it Shin Megami Tensei, Labyrinth of Touhou, Elminage, Growlanser, Ys, Pokemon, Rune Factory 3/4, Etrian Odyssey, Purse Owner, SRPGs, Rance, Mario and Luigi Bowsers Inside Story, and I still havent played Nier for some reason.

The fact that they can stuff it with side missions is not surprising. The question is, will those side missions be any good?

And that excuse for F-Zero was lame. Overall, though, it looks like 2015 might be another good year for the Wii U.

Not yet.

Icewind dale is an excellent dungeon crawler.

However, nothing touches Wizardry in this aspect. The dungeon design in Wizardry 4 in particular has some of the most devious and clever dungeon design I have ever seen.