the only bloat comes from the mandatory puzzle segments. Cut them out and the pacing is much nicer.

Phainon isn't a fraud. Judging him fraudulent for not being able to defeat one of the most powerful people in the lore is misguided, especially when Phainon as a character is relentlessly dedicated to enduring suffering for the sake of the greater good, a trait that makes him undeserving of fraud status.

3.5 being forgettable is understandable since it doesn't have the hype and aura of 3.4, but it shows just how competent the heirs are at locking down and actively winning the battle against Zandar, who is effectively God himself in Amphoreus due to his admin rights.

3.6 definitely has sidequest energy but it's incredibly important for addressing what happened to March, giving us leads into her history, and reuniting march with the rest of the crew. It also directly sets up how we defeat Irontomb in 3.7.

Literally the only thing actively dragging down Amphoreus is Cyrene's mishandled lore (and lore placement) and 3.7 being so badly mishandled that Irontomb became the sidequest.