After this episode, this game went from top 3 to meh.
A lot of people were not happy with the overall plot direction, or at least with it being completely different to the game genre they'd been led to believe they were getting into. But plot itself is only one factor of many that go into a game.
The game has often been praised for its writing, and the changed direction still has words, still coming from the same writer.
The game has often been praised for the characters, especially Liam. Liam is still in it, and still being beautifully characterised.
Are there flaws? Yes. As someone else I was speaking with pointed out, just as the main, positive characters are brilliantly observed and portrayed, all of the 'villains', whether Dick, or Peter, or Leah, and even Ana, have been very poorly observed, shallow, and one dimensional. Overly simplistic stereotypes with no personality, no backstory, no rationale. But those flaws were there as soon as Dick first came along, right back at the beginning. If you'd rated that as a top 3 back then, well, this is where those flaws lead eventually.
There's still a ton of good about this creation, and personally I think it is still a landmark in the genre. Other writers and developers can learn a lot about how to create wonderful, engaging characters by studying how this game did so. They can also learn about a few things that they might want to do differently - like ensuring people know at least roughly what kind of game they are getting into at the start.
Lots of people have come to this thread to post for the first time. That's great. Discussion is how people put ideas together, and explaining one's thoughts to others is one of the best ways to solidify those thoughts. This game brought that to happen.
You don't like where the plot has gone, well, that's fine. Nobody says you have to. I don't like that it was sprung on me either. But to dismiss everything that is good in the game just on that basis is rather petty and petulant, I think.