That's not to say a mystery story is inherently a bad thing per se but having played the game for dozens of hours, after a while I simply stopped caring about who or what The Absolute was.
I think Absolute is mentioned too often and with too big of a focus, while actually not telling anything. For now, it is nothing more than something pulling the strings. Normally a game would engage us in smaller local conflict and present a compelling foil, only to than reveal there is more to it. BG3 screams from the rooftop that Absolute is behind everything, without creating any tangible connection with the Absolute. I don’t care about Absolute (naming characters is important and “Absolute” sounds… weak?) and even worse, I don’t care about characters we encounter in act1 as they are presented as little more than Absolute’s pawns.
While that criticism is fair, Bg3 is currently only in testing. We've been warned that they're withholding enough content that Act 1 will feel fresh for testers.
Like with any other element, I suspect we've only been given a small bite. Wyll? No Mizora. Gale? Very vague. Romances? Enough to get an idea, strange pacing. It's all incomplete enough that we only see an "outline". Much, like the shadowy figures only gave us a literal outline of their profiles.
The datamined content has me feel it'll be similar to DA origins. Big parallel plot lines, optional side quests, but still the big bad end boss. Perhaps, with more attention given to our companion's quests.
Since Act 1 is where we're introduced to the main quest... we're railroaded into seeing the Absolute at work. Goblins? Complete abandoned their prior gods. Druids? Guess they exist. Not too compelling, the focus may be on : 1 the goblins, 2 that the absolute wins over a group by implanting the leaders with tadpoles.
(However, normally sane people may use desperate measures in war (like accepting the shadow druids). A Warning? I guess, Kagha not working for the Absolute is a mild twist)
Aside from that plot line, we really only have optional areas for combat and loot.
