How can it be the biggest RPG of 2021 if it probably wont even release this year?
They'll have to settle for Biggest RPG of All Time
Somewhat disapointing. I think the D&D rules took out the fun from their Divinity battle engine. The toned down elemental fireworks are welcome, but that severe limitation on spells we can cast before resting, is really annoying. There a lot of spells that I won't simply use, because of that limitation. So combat will mostly be boring, with simple attacks whjile saving interesting spells for latter, just in case they're needed (something that usually happens in other games with potions, where I almost never consume any, just in case I need them later).
D&D combat is much more strategic and rewarding, in comparison Larian had a more loose approach to give as much freedom as possible, but party members ending up overlapping one another. Still, they tweaked the D&D rules to simplify the combat a little bit. It may not be your preferred style, but it's in no way boring.
It's still EA, so I won't comment too much about the story, but so far, it's not engaging enough. I would like to explore combat a little more before giving it a final veredict, but there's very little opportunities for combat in the first hours of the game.
What would make the story more engaging? When compared to D:OS2, for example, I found they took a very similar approach.
596 characters and 45980 lines of (very well voice-acted) lines of dialog, a simple yet motivating starting plot that quickly develops and branches out, multiple and significant choices & consequences, the whole being set into rich D&D lore... Maybe you just don't like the D&D part, which is of course perfectly fine - to each their own. But honestly, I can hardly see how they could do better. It's a magnitude order greater than their previous title.
As for combat, you have a few ones directly on the Nautiloid, then immediately after the crash, North near and in the crypt (where you meet Shadowheart), a little further NW to free Lae'zel, and W then N the druid grove. If you follow that path, you should get some good opportunities. It's actually hard to go very far without seeing some action, once you get there.
It's a disapointment for me, not because it's a bad game, but because it feels a clear step down from their previous work.
Let's just hope that BG fans will enjoy it (which I doubt, as they're used to real time combat with pause), so that the game won't be a failure and LS can go back to do what it does best, with another divinity game or at least any other RPG with turn based combat, free from D&D's schackles.
That's probably the only and main issue. I wouldn't say a step down since all the features have been improved, but they made an in-between choice that may potentially not satisfy D:OS fans, nor D&D fans.
As I use to say, try to forget about D:OS and see the game for what it is, with a fresh look and an open mind. Combat is more restrictive but that makes for more demanding strategy, and more diversified characters. There's still a lot of fun to it.