I've been on an isometric tear lately. Finished Divinity Original Sin and Pillars of Eternity including expansions. I was going to try PoE2 next because I think the exploration faction of Pillars is pretty amazing and it feels like Baldurs Gate 1 more than any other title I've tried. How is exploration in Pathfinder? How does that compare? Just FYI I literally hated Baldurs Gate II although I completed it in the past including expansions. It felt more like a buff/debuff combat gauntlet simulator with marginal exploration. It had a good story but just a tiresome series of encounters. Just my opinion. Trying to avoid another BG2 experience. I like difficult encounters but I definitely enjoy exploration above all else. So Pathfinder, PoE2 or DoS2?
Interesting question indeed. I'd first say you can't go wrong with either choice but from what you said, I'd be cautious with Pathfinder (even though it's my preferred by a wide margin).
I've only played BG, not BG2, but I'm surprised you like it less because I thought it was similar to BG, even better from a story point of view.
What I can say though, is that
Pathfinder: WotR uses a heavy buff/debuff system since it's a modified D&D 3.5, and the exploration is not without its share of encounters, but you can tune the difficulty settings to have fewer enemies in them. I never felt it was endless, but occasionally there are bigger battles than the other games.
The vast choice of classes, spells, abilities, plus the mythic paths is a lot to take in.
It's very rich in story, dialogues and companion depth which should weigh in the "exploration" side of the game, so I think you should find it to your liking, but it's a more complex system to learn, sometimes you'll have a series of combat, and some combats will require buffing/debuffing.
PoE2 is about the same quality regarding story, companions and exploration, but it tends to unload a lot of lore in dialogues sometimes. I didn't like the combat system, but you enjoyed PoE so it shouldn't be a problem, it's an evolution of PoE's ruleset.
It's probably the safest choice for you.
DOS:2 is completely different. Instead of smaller areas and a world map, it's a big area per act, which feels more like an open-world exploration; there's no world map. The combat encounters are reasonable but it's turn-based only so it will take more time in your gameplay. A few combats are quite long, but it's rare.
Their system uses a dual armour and plays a lot with area-of-effect spells, which is not to everyone's taste.
The story felt lighter but not by much, it's probably just the lore being less extensive than Pathfinder and PoE2. The style is lighter too, it's not easy to put in words but I'd say it's slightly caricatural and foolish.
