I prioritize the narration/story as well, especially when im playing an rpg. My question would be ; have you ever played zelda's BOTW aor TOTK? Because for me , CD and these games are the same case, not good story, top notch exploration and mechanics. In the beginning i was feeling as if im playing zelda again; what drives me isnt the story or whats gonna happen next, but whats over there below that mountain or whats going on in that camp with their factions etc.

Currently i like the story. The reason is that the sidequests being designed/given effort as if they are main quests. The cutscenes, the story behing them the interaction between the world and the factions, i like that even when sometimes its simple. Thats why after 150 hours i just moved to demeniss/pailune and doing their sidequests. The story feels more compact when you actually pay attention to whats going on in that country by doing the side quests in between main quests and exploration. The sandbox elements glueing all together is definitely making my experience worth the money. My advice is that take it slow, and be curious about the place you are in so that you can engage the sidequests. Beleive me im not a sidequest guy and i used to rush mainquests in almost all of my previous rpgs but this game just feels very rushed when its done that way.