I just disliked having these whimsical adventures with my friends where we meet goofy, cartoons characters and having fights with cute bunnies for hours, only to be thrown back into white space with a fucking knife where the only out is to stab myself. It was a jarring and surprising contrast after the first act, but then kept repeating that same beat, but without the tension.

I was waiting for any subversion or twist that could resolve the dissonance, but it just came way too late. But you're right, I thought the combat was shallow and did not hook me at all, so I kept hoping for story beats that were just too spread out for my taste.