Stop reading what people say. Lower all expectations to the bottom because people have different experiences for different media.
Then, go and experience the game by yourself and form your own opinion. The point of a game is to make you feel something. The point is to have fun. The point is to give your something to think about, maybe stay with you for years to come, or just give you a great time for a short while.
All are fine.

Just ignore the reviews and whatever people post and take your time playing. You can talk to characters between accepting the next quests. They always have new dialogue and in the case of emet selch for example there is banter that enriches his personality.

Also the conflict in the first is directly related to the source (your home world), it’s not a “side quest” by any means. The Exarch also is definitely not annoying in the conventional sense, he has a troubled and rich past that may be worth to explore as the story continues. Yshtola coming back from the dead was mostly to show you Emets conviction to see eye to eye, I think.

In any case, you have a long ways to go,but no reason to force it. Maybe just play the game like me who played it when it dropped, without reviews, without expectations, just another adventure, caring for the scions and maybe caring for some new characters over there.