Also uuuhh Monoco mating press. Thank you for listening~

Now do I think your opinion would be completely different had you done all the side content? I don't think so, but I do believe the conclusion of the story would've been more satisfying overall.

All that to say yeah, act 3 is rushed and you can really feel it, but there's good stuff in there~

Which just kind of sucks, because some of my favorite and most memorable scenes happen in act 3.

So, while a lot of people won't bother with most of act 3 and end the game immediately, I really can't help but feel like you don't get the complete narrative if you skip it.

Because now, it's entirely up to the player if they want to experience the story further, and leads to a lot of people having different views of the story as a whole. Now your perception of the story is dependant on how much of the optional content you did before you decided to end the game.

Hell, even Monoco, who's only there because he's a little violence gremlin gets a nice arc with some moving moments. The impact of all of that gets lessened a bit by act 3's sudden shift from a linear story with clear goals to "Alright, here's the entire map, go nuts"

I think the game would be a lot better if all of the optional story moments in act 3 became mandatory. So many things get fleshed out, there's a few powerful moments with their own entire cutscenes, and every party member gets a satisfying enough end to their arcs through the camp scenes