This may sound like defending the game to much, and I do agree that this is a missed opportunity.
Now most of this is from what I remember from finishing it about 3-4 weeks ago.
1 - Tasks, yes they are fetch quests, but can largely be ignored. they don't really add much to the story at all I believe.
2 - English issue.. don't forget that the Nexus itself was there for over a year before you show up and also that the fact there as the rebellion happened, and due to that the angara, and the kett, ran into the MW species before you arrived. I think when you first arrive at Aya this was mentioned, in a single throwaway line
3 - Crafting, --- yes it is a slog.
4 - Money -- its generally needed for crafting as you would never come across enough resources, at least from what I found.
5 - Combat, only thing I did not like was the cover system, preferred the old style where you could manually go into it
6 - Kett, pretty much Collector wannabes, but there are hints that there is more to them, and that the Archon is/has gone rogue
There is too much of, I can see where they want to go, but fells like they left too much out for a sequel that now does not look like it will happen.
I usually do not do many runs in a game, but in the OT I could see myself doing another run, but for this one, it would seem like to much work as the idea of the story is good, the execution is a flat