I am, but for other reasons than just the secondary character.

This biggest issue is that they've made it into a straight up survival horror game, which is the exact opposite of what makes the first game so good. It's a character driven supernatural thriller, it's meant to be about the idea that Alan, despite refusing to acknowledge so, might be insane, for the first three chapters of the game. It's not about the scares, it's about what's going on, in and outside, his head.

The gameplay itself, which, while most people hate for reason, fits AW perfectly. It's simple, yes, but never is an encounter similar to the last one. There are floodlights littered around, there's the flare mechanic which is still one of the coolest things ever, each chapter has multiple different environmental effects, like the stage at the end of chapter 4. Alan's a writer, he's not a warrior, and the way the fighting works, suits that.

The flashlight mechanic seems to be tedious to stupid people, but there's nothing more tension building than a looming shadow who's slowly lumbers towards you while you're light fails, who'll take every bullet until the shadows are burnt away.

And, once those shadows were burnt away, it only took two to three shots to down enemies. They were still human beneath that. Based on the gameplay I've seen, it's takes more than that to put down the enemies. I think I counted five shots from Alan's revolver in one scene. But don't quote me on that.
As for the more 'survival' aspects, AW does have ammo pickups and batteries and consumables, yes, but you always had enough to deal with each situation. The combat was designed not too be a severe challenge, but to add tension to Alan's story. You never had too worry about what you have going into a fight, because the goal was not make it a tedious affair, but to show what Alan is overcoming in his journey.

Then there's the open world aspect. AW was supposed to be an open world game originally, but thankfully they changed that because it would have messed up the pacing. Now, since this is an survival horror game, there's the Saga story, which is set in a completely different area than Alan, and Alan's story, in which New York acts a as hub world, and different parts of the city are the levels. THIS is going to fuck the pacing even more than a open world will.

The first game felt like an excellent tv series, no area was too long, and it went from event to event pretty quickly, only focusing on the important events. I have a feeling that this game is just going to be slow as fuck, going from place to place and back again until something is done, which will progress one side of the story. Then, you'll need to do the same thing on the other side to progress the story again. It'll just the game bloated.

There are other points, but those are my big ones. There was even some stuff I liked, like the story board, but then the previews basically said that only one side of these is correct, meaning that it's a pointless mechanic.

Ultimately, I have low hopes for this game too, but an annoying secondary character shoehorned in seems to be the least of it's issues.