So as someone who's played NLT games since My Summer, the games have always been like this, where it feels like milking, but the reality is it's a very slow burn, which is why I hold off playing for a good 6-8 months before even giving NLTs next game a go.
I think I feel similarly. I enjoyed TON (and even LE) much more than TGO, but I think a lot of that is down to how I played them.
I discovered LE and TGO long after they had been completed so I purchased them on Steam and played the games in full.
With TGO, with hindsight, I should have waited, but I was impatient and played as an initial portion plus fortnightly updates. Personally, I feel that playing updates takes something away from the game, you have to wait 14 days but then only get 20-30 minutes of gameplay. You get what you are given, you have to stop when you have completed the update. As well as breaking up the flow, it makes the puzzles much easier because each update contains all that you need - there will be one chest and exactly one key. There will be a new item to make and the exact ingredients required can all be found in that update.
But I do respect what NLT does, they publish a release schedule, stick to it and deliver. By comparison I have purchased other games that are in ‘early access’ that have not been updated for 6 months, finally an update comes out and it is minuscule.
I’m looking forward to when TGO is fully available - I’ll buy it and play it from the start - hopefully it will be a much better experience, though I do fear that I have spoiled it by playing the updates, and I still don’t think it will be as good as TON.