Finally decided to give BG3 a chance. I think the issue is that my boomer brain is trying to compare it to the last two games, when it's clearly trying to be different. I was never part of a tabletop session in my life, but from what I'm seeing BG3 wants to play out as a proper D&D campaign, instead of a standalone story that just so happens to be set in the D&D universe like the first two games. Really ought to try suspending my disbelief better.