Exactly this... It's almost painfully clear that Larian aren't trying to placate, they're just trying to avoid and stifle. I don't understand why... I don't understand what happened during development to have left this game so bereft of any, well... logic toward the end. Most statements about the cut content make no sense, neither from a narrative perspective, nor as a matter of consistency within their own promises. The backtracking is very loud, and to justify butchering an experience by eliminating a massive portion of the game, including many quests and elements which would've been significant - if not vital - pieces of a coherent whole, even eliminating this game's very ending as a matter of vision is troubling regardless of how one chooses to look at it.
To be perfectly honest, the waves upon waves of almost droning sympathisers are terrifying in a way. I simply cannot comprehend how anyone could ever look at this game, this story, and consider it complete. Not to mention the lingering technical shortcomings which just seem to shift from one patch to the other and are almost entirely overlooked by the majority of players - and I'm not talking about the hiccups, like the camera getting stuck on the scenery, or companions being stumped by a 7-foot ledge, I'm talking about major, oftentimes game breaking bugs which still remain... How could anyone possibly think this product is complete? And how could it be so fanatically showered with praise? How did we get here?
At the end of the day, however, the most painful aspect, for me, is the oh-so-obvious point of rupture within the game itself. The first Act is a masterpiece. The second Act is a jewel in need of some polish, but the third Act is a hodgepodge of dead ends and confusion. It feels as though they just gave up on finishing it. And it's heartbreaking that a story which builds itself up to be one of, if not the best in recent memory, shoots itself in every limb by the time it reaches its ending... There's always only one shot at a first impression, which, in this case, managed to ricochet all over the place... I'm saddened that we have been denied the fulfilment of that unique sense of wonder with which this game set out...
