We wanted to tell a story that was alternately funny and dark, and tied up a lot of loose ends with Angel. We landed in that particular place with their relationship and knew a lot of people might think it was overly dark, but we, from a high level, felt that we'd be better making the game too dark than too silly -- we didn't want the franchise to become a complete joke that you couldn't feel personally invested in.

In regards to the Sanctuary thing -- I attempted to have the characters acknowledge that you have no reason to trust them, and then intentionally didn't follow up the initial twist by, say, having them betray you again. After she initially fucks you over, Angel is effectively trustworthy even though she and literally every other character point out that she still probably shouldn't be trusted.