There isn't a good explanation for the suppression of ceromorphosis, so that also feels contrived.
That's kinda part of the mystery. I don't think we're supposed to have an explanation yet. It's like, I don't think I'd call Agatha Christie a bad writer for not revealing the mysterious affair at Styles earlier.
Personally, I'm loving the story, and I'm absolutely impressed with the writers on Larian's staff. Sorry to hear that you don't. I guess the game's not for everyone.
The hag and Omeluum, the mind flayer give you incites as to why. Oh there's a good reason.
I do think there's a middle ground. Sure. I think it could feel more like D&D and a BG sequel, but to totally rip it up at this stage is a bit much, IMO. What drew me in most was the story. Every character, even every goblin, has a story. That's incredible. And there are SO many paths you could take. I've never played a game with so much replayability. I certainly never played 1 and 2 this much. I enjoyed them, but they were nothing like this.
And I see plenty of elements to tie it in to the originals, and we haven't even gotten to the good stuff. As a writer, you need an adventure hook. It is good to start with such high level excitement. Draws people in. Then they do bring it down a notch as you explore on the beach and stuff and get to meeting people and learning about where you are and what's happening in the region.
That said, there are still a lot of things they could do, like make monsters actually like how they're supposed to be and they need to have some additional things like day/ night and maybe some roaming animals and consistency with story elements like when was Moonhaven really destroyed and what the flip cause Halsin and crew to be gone for over a month and a half when the goblin camp is 10 minutes away. But overall, if you read the books and find the clues, you start really piecing together a LOT of things. There is way more to this game than many realize. WAY more.
