That could be a 20 page branching conversation all by itself, but my money is on bad marketing.
Bad marketing followed by lukewarm word of mouth in regards to the main story and pacing. Practically sent to die for a game whose main selling point was the writing to begin with.
I'd say this is why sales picked up later for the game. People who had not heard of it eventually came across the game and gave it a try; or else people who had received negative word of mouth about the game decided they would see for themselves and found themselves surprised that the game is actually good.
