I just finished the game last night. I've got to say the critical denigration of the game is greatly overstated. I don't think it was worth $60 (I paid $14 and thought it was well worth that), but there are plenty of games that get critical praise that I don't think are worth $60 either.
The game is straight up gorgeous. It is right up there with Uncharted 4 for the best looking console or otherwise game I have ever played. Yes, appearance does count for something in my opinion.
The story is interesting, although it obviously pulls inspiration from other sources. It reminded me of elements of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with the steampunk inspired peacekeepers. It reminded me of Bram Stoker Dracula with the setting and the supernatural element. It reminded me of Mark Millar's Wanted with the long standing society which is broken by betrayal from the very top. However, I think the way the story is presented is very flawed. The workings of the Order are barely explained, what little explanation there is, comes 3/4 of the way through the game. The connection between the rebellion against he monarchy and the fight against the Lycans is never explained well. They throw vampires in the game as a toss away and never explain the connection with the Lycans. They Lycans end up only being a secondary enemy that you fight perhaps 3 times. The explanation for killing innocent guards is rather dubious.
Elements of the game were obviously inspired by Naughty Dog. Story telling through collectibles was not implemented nearly as well as Naughty Dog does it though.
Most of the time, it is a rather straight forward third person covers shooter. I didn't think the shooting felt as refined as the later Uncharted Games or Gears of War. I found that often quick follow up shots, especially with the sniper rifle, did not register even when I had the enemy clearly within my crosshair.
There were a lot of cut scenes, and many of them seemed like elements that could have been played out in gameplay. I didn't find the cut scenes overly long though, no worse than those in Uncharted 4 or The Last of Us. They certainly weren't as intrusive as the cut scenes in Metal Gear Solid 3, and the critics all ate that game up.
The stealth parts were not that good, but not as bad as some critics hinted. I would have liked the ability to use stealth throughout the game, and not just in designated sections, and I would have liked a better mechanic for stealth take downs.
There was also an odd difficulty spike just before the end, where they throw the player in a tiny room and shove waves and waves of enemies at you. Basically I figured out that using cover in the room was useless, as the enemies will always outflank you and one enemy fires explosives at you which can't be avoided by using cover. I just had to run around the room like a madman. Using Blacksite was also a must, and I was not used to using that ability throughout the game.
The boss fights seemed contrived and full of too many QTEs and static fighting. The player is basically only allowed to stand in one spot and wait for an opportunity to swipe away with a blade, while waiting for button prompts to tell them when to dodge. I personally don't see the need for Boss fights in games, especially if they are narrative driven games.
The game was short for sure, but not nearly as short as a lot of the hate made it out to be. 5 hours is a speed run, and I did a speed run of Uncharted 4 in a little over 5 hours. I think it probably took me about 9-10 hours to finish the game.
Perhaps my expectations of the game were lowered by the poor reception it got, but I ended up being pleased with the game. Conversely, I think when I played Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (in 2015), I was swayed by the overwhelming praise the series garnered, and while I really liked the game, I didn't think it was worth of the praise heaped on Uncharted (UC2 and UC3 made me see the light though). I would have given Uncharted: Drake's Fortune an 8.5 out of 10
I would give The Order: 1886 a solid 7 out of 10.
I think the game needs a sequel, and when they do the sequel, they need to take more inspiration from Naughty Dog, and they need to do a better job of emulating Naughty Dog than they did in the first game.