I got the same feeling, it does feel either rushed or like the devs ran out of ideas towards the end. The whole resolution with the cloaked figure and dallis REALLY felt like the plot jumped the shark. Arx is not -bad-, but more disappointing next to how great the rest of the game was.
Minor spoilers ahead:
There's too many gimmicks like the revenants that I still have no idea how to kill, the doctor who seems to be universally accepted as the worst fight in the game, instakill deathfog spiders, and a couple more that are just not fun.
But it's not all bad. I liked the sewer dwarf plot / fight, it was interesting. I liked the sorcerer from the sewers. The alchemist assassination was a bit annoying but ultimately cool in how you can double-cross everyone.
And the visuals / music / atmosphere are amazing across the board!
All in all I agree with how it needs to be a bit clearer with where you should go and what you should do to progress, and it needs a thorough balancing pass. But overall? I think it's at least decent. The foundation is there for a great chapter. It just needs a bit more love & polish to live up to the rest of the game!
Apparently I never finished the whole dwarf thing and Arx got destroyed, RIP lol. Like I went back upstairs for that Kid in cage (Mistake) and then went up to see paladins and then completely forgot. But what Alchemist Assassination? Is that the Dwaren wedding? Or something else, I might have missed a few more things looking at this.
I didn't do the Consulate one, with the Necrofire lizards, was playing with a friend and apparently it was bugged for us. So no idea what could have happened with that fight.
Also, the game is not optimized. After hitting Nameless Isle the game just slogs. Hell, it happens even in Reapers from time to time, but it gets pretty bad with Nameless Isle.
Also a question, with the Doctor Daeva fight, like the first 2-3 times we tried it, he had like 17k physical armour and stuff, but the other time, we dragged everyone outside, forcing em to walk through the door, but he only had like 4k physical and like magical, did we bug him out or what happened?
Also I read Malady meets you there, but nothing. No Jahan anywhere, not even in the basement or w/e? Was it bugged for us? I wouldn't be surprised if it was considering A LOT of the quests were bugged for us. (Tarquins quest, Trial of seasons, Consulate, etc etc).
