>>41035839The only defense is the simple truth: they ran out of time. That's literally all that can be said to explain this mess of a game. It's blatantly evident how much their resources were stretched thin during the entire development cycle. Reuse everything (models, animations, even the fucking plot is as absurdly rehashy as it is limited), underdeveloped areas, far fewer areas in general, thoughtless difficulty curve, and it just keeps going.
It's tragic that they have to follow this annual release schedule so strictly, and then mismanage it on top of it all.