Completely agree. Many dialogs/monologues seem totally amateur and cheesy. It's like a tale for five-year-olds with "fuck" words. In some cases the writing has too much pathos with no substance. Especially, the lines from Arcadia. Voice actors are overplaying intonations like in the amateur theater or on the "baby-cartoons" channel.

***SPOILER NEXT******

The ship chapter is just plain bullshit... after you, supposedly, intentionally killed people who tried to help you, the game tells you: "Hey, despite there was no chance, everybody survived. Don't ask how. So, that means it was good to try to kill them all."

***SPOILERS******


April did not try to kill them. She was just being irresponsible. And that's what I love so much about her :)

Well, it's a case of criminal negligence then... it's hard to tell what's worse though.

You know, the Chernobyl' nuclear disaster was the similar case of criminal negligence (the power plant's boss ordered to switch off automatic meltdown protection because he wanted drastically improve the power output by reducing reactor's water cooling). Unlike the game, it was for real and there was no play script that states: "Despite everything went wrong, everybody lived happily ever after". Basically, our protagonist in the game is that type of an asshole. And while I don't mind if I play an asshole character in the game, surprising part is that she feels no regret while being a hard-coded "good natured" personality.

***SPOILERS, PROBABLY THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE THREAD***

She's "the Chosen One", the only person capable of saving two worlds from impending doom. Having regrets and second thoughts is NOT going to help her accomplish what she needs to.

In the sequel she becomes a revolutionary, the ruthless leader of a persecuted minority.
Her personality is NOT shallow, static or simple !

Thats one of the few thinkgs that actually made me like the sequel :-)

The writing is a bit on the simpler side, but that adds to a fairy-tale feel of the whole thing. Dragons? Destiny? Chosen One? I didn't expect too much, and I got more than enough.

=)

Bah - the GAMEPLAY is simpler in the sequel; the plot gets a lot more complicated, forming a meta-layer over the original TLJ...
Like the second part of the Matrix - things learned previously are suddenly the "obvious" part, yet you find out once again that you STILL don't fully understand "what's up" with the world.

My thoughts exactly... If only the third installment of the series was any closer to completion...

It was (is !) also supposed to be EPISODIC x_x. I'm not exactly thrilled at the perspective of getting the grand finale in small chunks, over time... At this point, though, I simply hope it comes out at all.

I know, and those are the same hopes I have.

Author of thread is just a Troll,
Or not just troll, but a Finland troll jealous to succes of Norway brothers from Funcom. I heard rumors that there are some Fins and Nors racist who love to criticize each other for no reason, and now i see one of them.

He simply could not understand QUEST humorous roots (Monkey Island anyone? Oh dont tell me about amateur writing in Monkey Island, or ill make a voodoo doll of you ^_^ ), so while game is still EPIC, sometime it dont shy to show genre's roots with grotesque "self-parody" kind of of humor, sometime even with break of 4th wall
(which was quite usual for almost every quest of 90th era - just click on character in every 2nd QUEST and he\she will tell you something like he\she aware of user presence and knows that its all just a game)
and this is done always not occasionally, but on purpose.

All these "unrelated" scenes is not because of amateur writing, but because of genre canons of that ERA and Market rules like "you cant sell too serious quest so well, there must be as many locations and characters as possible" ... and so on, so Rognar was forced to wash out a little main plot line with some sort of "side-quests" with their side-plots. Yeah thats side-quest, usual think in QUESTS and RPG.
But i doube that any bell rings near author of thread when he hear words "SIDE-QUEST", thats why he act not so smart when start ranting about "unrelated" scenes.

To be honest, even these "SIDE-QUESTS" not so side and not so "unrelatted:, they are all parts of main quest, mostly "favors" for some characters as payment for their help in main quest or destruction of "obstacles" in a way though main quest.

Example from real life - you a Doctor, your main quest today to got to the hospital and make serious operation at appointed time, While you make you way to hospital at your vehicle, there is a crash in front of you, which blocks your road and dont allow you to advance in your personal quest.
Now tell me MR, "smart" guy - why the fuck your obstacle on main road must be related to your operation? Cant just 2 random guys crash to each other and block your road, to force you look for alternate way? They only needs to be your relatives, and patients and part of your main quest?
NO!!!

So the entire ranting about "unrelated" scenes is pointless, because unrelated scenes happens every day, they should be, without them its would be clean and synthetic story!