If only because it's a niche game in an already niche genre that appeals only to a subset of a subset of a subset of people. I know I wouldn't buy it if I just came across it naturally.

Yeah, no way they would. The literal first thing I heard about Santa Ragione was that their game, that was about to release in 6 days, had been rejected by Steam years ago.
There's no world where the game releases on Steam and is widely known enough to be a top seller.

It could be that I am cherrypicking examples in my head, but without counting "similar games developed by the same developer" (and even then), I really can't think of many pairs of similar games where I would say "yes, the one that's higher on the AAA axis is undoubtedly the more substantial one".

more cynically, style is always more marketable than substance because style above a certain threshold implies there surely MUST be substance. annoying part is that this is often true due to the resource differential. but also often the "the only one i played, therefore better than the rest" effect

other ways to do this without AAA gloss like hidden content, choice&consequence, replayability, made by one dude over 9 years or w/e. obviously showcased plumage that there's something "more", that it's not ""just"" another rpg or metroidvania but somehow *above* its peers (whether "true" or not)

Been rolling this in my head since I woke up and, is it actually "often true"? I guess it depends on how we define "substance", but I wouldn't say that "more things" (systems/mechanics/maps/etc) are "more substance" by default.
Like I don't think e.g. Dark Souls 3 has more substance than Dark Souls.

If forums hadn't fucking died in the great online extinction of 2010 I would probably be doing that as a hobby right now. It's like the natural extension of creating backgrounds for forum signatures lmao. Cloud filter>Blur>Noise>Adjust Levels stays undefeated.

There is a proper rant about this somewhere deep within my brain but it'd require me to replay BG3 while actually paying attention to the companions and lol, lmao.

The thing I keep coming around to, specifically about the JRPG/WRPG divide and the "respectability" of either, is... Well, sure, I'd agree that most recent JRPGs have pretty bad writing, but if someone tried to convince me that WRPGs are in a better position I would just laugh them out of my house.

As much as I'd like that, I assure you people would be killed if they made Lara Croft old.

i played kowloon high-school chronicle by accident and it has indeed permanently altered my brain chemistry

The only thing to be upset about regarding that trailer is that it is a cinematic trailer instead of gameplay.
Show me these surfaces and clouds interacting with each other and wreaking havoc on the battlefield, come on, that's what we play Divinity for.

By which I mean: not only Business "theory" is dumb as shit, the people who choose to attend Business classes are the dumbest motherfuckers alive.