Yeah, I think everyone can agree that TLOU2 is far from perfect and the overall narrative and themes are inconsistent at times, disconnected from each other, even. The story is way more ambitious and less focused than the first game and I think that was the biggest problem. It definitely doesn't have the same charm or character development as good as in TLOU1. Combat and gameplay loop are better and that is expected, the areas are way bigger and more open this time but the exploration is not very rewarding and ends up hurting the pacing a lot. I think I just prefer these type of games to be more linear.
I don't think this game can be called a masterpiece like the first one but it came very close. Since the narrative is a lot, lot more complex and complicated to implement, that is impressive af if you ask me. Cinematic games fo life don't at me