Feels like the writers for this game started backwards when writing a story: a bloated cast dictated the story rather than the story dictate the cast.
Joel and Ellie, the heart and soul of the first game, should have been the focus but they weren't: says a lot when for many, the best parts were the Joel and Ellie portions.
Instead Abby has to be half of this game and all these other cast members have to be stuffed into the game in some way making the game feel overly long for some.