Or it is possible many of us have played them all and just thought most of the old games were terrible.
Perhaps many of you played them all and failed to appreciate how good they were, hardcore gaming by definition isn't for everyone.
Not to be too prickly or pointed with you, or to suggest that ME2 is unworthy, but these things become increasingly subtle, and you invited it upon yourself by saying they were "terrible."
Heck I can remember a joke from Portalbendarwinden in BG1 that was this tiny textual box side quest meaningless thing in a tabletop inspired RPG, and that insanely over the top the joke is one of the seeds that eventually germinated into the sarcastic hawke that people enjoy so much.
Much as I might love KotOR, this hits the nail right on the head. I always forget how awkward the movement mechanics were, among a million other things.
In general though, Bioware's cRPG's were a mixed bag for a number of reasons. The first time I played Baldur's Gate 1 was actually right after ME2. I appreciated the legacy, but after a lot of build-up about how amazing the narrative/characters were, I was more than a bit disappointed.
I don't know what people told you but I'm not saying it's going to (or would) revolutionize your entire concept of self and teleport you to another realm where Baldur's Gate is the grand champion of the universe, but nonetheless, there is a difference favoring Baldur's Gate, then favoring NWN/KOTOR, and then finally favoring ME1/DA:O.
Bioware's CRPGs are a mixed bag because they were descended or made simultaneously with Planescape Torment which was the original kind of narrative heavy CRPG, but which was actually descended from an appreciation for table top gaming at Interplay generally, not necessarily strict 1 to 1, but at any intersection of narrative and tabletop gaming.
To put it more simply, Bioware emphasized narratives from the beginning, while in modern times it seems there is a tendency to draw massive gaps for example between like Torment, Baldur's Gate 2, Mass Effect 1, Dragon Age 2, but the reality is if you are really pointed you could label them all as "narrative-heavy" CRPGs.
The truest or biggest divergence in experience as far as CRPGs go is with the Fallout series, which was more directly based on GURPSs and the game environment in general is actually pointing more towards tabletop games.
All that aside, however, those differences remain within the CRPGs generally, and if they weren't substantial, I would not have noted them, They are small in some cases, larger in others, but it's like moving from a 9 to an 8 to a 7 and finally to a 6 or something. And as I said, that favors the earlier incarnations.
Have to say I bounced right off BG2.
BG2 is probably one of the weakest early Bioware games, BG1 had strong parts was experimental though too, I've yet to find many people who would wholeheartedly condemn NWN and KOTOR on anything other than their dated graphics and presentation.
Edit: Ok, so movement, right, that would be a thing, except moving in ME2 was that cinematic slow blur style of movement common in FPS where reloading and hiding is based on discrete cover points and consequently movement feels awkward and unnatural, there really isn't anything all that smooth about ME2.
Given that ME2 lacks even basic features of the TPS genre that Gears of War 1 had back in '06 such as rolling and going from cover to cover, it isn't. That, combined with ME2 shedding any pretense of being an RPG, makes ME2 a sub-standard TPS by any measure. What saves it as a game is the TPS and casting hybrid gameplay, that they didn't manage to refine properly until ME3.
And don't get me started on how clueless a lot of people in this fanbase are about gaming. I've seen some of the most ridiculous statements on here by people, from them saying ME2 has better mechanics than Gears, JRPGs being slammed for being "linear" and "railroaded" while praising the ME games with a complete lack of self-awareness(not to mention there being various JRPGs that wipe the floor with ME in that department) and just yesterday, I saw someone stating 99% of video game protagonists are "straight white males". Smh
Skipped Gears of War, but since you mention it I did look at the trailers some time ago because I realized I had missed the franchise because it just seemed like an even slower paced FPS than Halo which was already so much slower than Wolfenstein and Doom that it was kind of reaching molasses level.
Somehow getting an XBOX for Halo which just wasn't crazy exciting to begin with didn't work, but to be honest maybe playing them anyway is a good investment, then it becomes easier to know where things start and end, plus, might even have some fun.
I am super familiar with the JRPGs being linear part, FFX13 and ME2 are corridor sims through and through, but one was treated abhorrently for whatever reason and the other one piles up GOTYs like candy.
And it's not you can't find the roots of FF13 in 10, which was very linear but is treated well.
And that isn't even to say FF13 didn't have a few cool parts, sheesh, most of the time people cranky about games don't even dislike the games all that much, they just see these massive discrepancies and treatment and it's hard not to comment on it.
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