I'm guessing I'm half way into the game. I'm not gonna spoil anything but I'll compare this to another game the title of which I will hide.
I hope there's some huge payoff in what they're doing here because I feel like the whole game could have ended at that halfway mark and I would have been fine. We're taking a huge detour here for reasons I don't understand.
I will say that I can totally see anyone who read the out of context spoilers being put off by this game. Having experienced this stuff first hand as I found it out made it easier to swallow but if I knew all this plot stuff up front I probably wouldn't have bought it.
My perspective is being attached to the original title and its cast. By extension I began to moderatly care for some of the newer characters related to them. There is a different set of characters I don't know and don't care about and the game is I don't know if I want to say trying to humanize them or make me care about them but it's awkward.
Maybe it should have been done the reverse of how it played out and I'd care more. You'll see when you get half way in.