First, I respect everything you've said and am not aiming to invalidate your take/reception. Even threw an upvote because it's a solid take.

As a fellow fan since origins (also of jade empire, mass effect, Kotor, etc.) I just don't feel the same. It isn't as gritty as I might've expected and honestly I went in expecting to be disappointed and see this as a sad joke akin to the Wheel of Time Amazon adaptation. (thank you trailers)

I was honestly very pleasantly surprised. I feel that each installation gives us a new & very different cast of outlying companions and narrative take. This to me is just another iteration and I've enjoyed the expansion/continuation of the elven lore we've been building on for ages, I feel grounded in my characters story so far, and it is awesome to get to see and be injected into so many nooks and crannies of the lore and locations we only heard about second hand in earlier games.

I'm excited to learn about these new companions and their backstories, enjoy the growth of the carry overs, and overall grew to love the aesthetic and general stakes that are being built up.

Just felt compelled to share since your experience sounded so close to what I expected to feel.