Which is rather unfortunate, as:
RPG Codex Interview: Eric Fenstermaker on Pillars of Eternity :: rpg codex > doesn't scale to your level
Almost every C/RPG outside of BG3 is on a budget in some way or another. And with RPGs in general, I feel its the worst: Also due to historical reasons, a game said to be on the shorter side risks being flagged as "sales candidate" immediately. A game shorter than ~20 hours is a complete no-go for most, no matter the quality. Whereas supposedly epics are being applauded for offering "value for money". As if being able to spend days of your life on a game was inherently value itself -- even classic 16bit JRPGs were notorious for stretching their playing time with random encounters (right up to the Final Fantasys).
Gotta love the Codex review of WOTR, btw. The reviewer acknowledges all of that filler. Actually, it argues the game even doubles down on it compared to Kingmaker. But rather than burning the devs at least some for it, the review ends on this note regardless: "Hey, this game has a lot of filler routinely wasting your time. But still, if ya like that kind of thing..." The original Fallout would have a real hard time were it to release nowadays. For ALL the wrong reasons.