I long for a proliferation of 'adventure' or slower RPGs, instead of the FPS-type we see so much of. One advantage of the former is there's often a party component, like the old-school Wasteland (or the new Wasteland II), old Bard's Tale, etc. Or perhaps the party component fell out of favor for a different reason?
I've quite enjoyed Witcher 3's atmosphere and story, but there's something hack-and-slash about the combat and the skill system that makes one not really want to explore the different skill paths. For example, almost everyone will deploy a large fraction of their points in strong and fast sword attacks -- because it's a hack and slash.
Is it there's not a lot of demand for RPGs, or they're too expensive to make, or the old-school creators are replaced with a younger generation?
Don't get me wrong, Witcher 3 and the late GTA series are great games, but they're not old school RPG's in their style of play: some of the missions are gauntlet runs (somewhat linear), and the energy is fast-paced and requires more reflexes than they require planning.
You're alluding primarily to AAA games that target consoles. Nothing wrong with these games, but they are generally built to target the widest possible demographic and so you're going to get some typical patterns: action + simplicity + low difficulty + crazy good production values. Probably not what you're looking for.
To find what you're interested in just step off the beaten path a bit -- right now is probably the single best time in history for things like RPGs. For instance there is literally a brand new Bard's Tale out, in the same spirit as the originals, including having Michael Cranford on board. [1] You could start your search there - the "More like this" suggestions (on Steam) tend to be really quite good. Another place to start the search might be with the remastered Bard's Tale Trilogy [2]. Definitely don't avoid games just because you've never heard of them. For instance I'd never heard of Spiderweb software but have gotten an immense amount of enjoyment out of their games. [3] If you're okay with just dropping the story and playing a turn based RPG type game purely for an incredibly phenomenal monster training/creation type system in an incredibly expansive world then the Siralim [4] series is another great thing to check out.
No affiliation with any of the companies/products mentioned here. But I was literally in the exact same situation as you. Was really disappointed that it felt like my console had every type of genre - first person shooter/stabbers and third person shooter/stabbers! I was never much of a PC gamer. Then I took the path I'm recommending here and was just left jaw dropped to realize we're seriously in the golden age of games right now, most certainly including classic RPG style games!
I remember lamenting the fact that nearly every party-based RPG seemed to have smaller parties with each sequel... it makes me wonder if they don't focus-group well or something.
I think it's partly to control difficulty better. In BG if you build your party neglecting some key concepts (a dps, a tank, crowd control spells etc) you can very well find yourself unable to continue at certain challenge (i.e. the for golem room if you focus too much on hth, out the first dragon in icewind.. memory about the specifics faded now pardon any confusion) and basically you do well up to the challenge then you can't progress anymore.
Also a smaller party with less variations in roles is much easier to do storytelling with.
There are piles of these, still. The second Divinity is barely a year old, party mechanics are typical in lots of tactical JRPGs if that's your thing, etc.
I've quite enjoyed Witcher 3's atmosphere and story, but there's something hack-and-slash about the combat and the skill system that makes one not really want to explore the different skill paths. For example, almost everyone will deploy a large fraction of their points in strong and fast sword attacks -- because it's a hack and slash.
Is it there's not a lot of demand for RPGs, or they're too expensive to make, or the old-school creators are replaced with a younger generation?
Don't get me wrong, Witcher 3 and the late GTA series are great games, but they're not old school RPG's in their style of play: some of the missions are gauntlet runs (somewhat linear), and the energy is fast-paced and requires more reflexes than they require planning.