I think that's what I'm gathering - it's that the increased production value has signaled to the mainstream gamer audience that "this is a Mass Effect", and that is a powerful marketing message. The last game of that type was...Dragon Age Inquisition? So yeah, people have been starving for another one of these.
Well damn, I think we solved it. Larian basically reverse-engineered Bioware's origin story, and this release is them fully stepping into old Bioware's shoes.