I really like Act 1, and I do think it's better overall. It's better paced, more focused and feels more well-thought out in general. I don't think I need to go too in-depth here, I basically agree with everything said above.

That being said, I do think Act 2 is still fine. It's not terrible and has a lot of interesting things - the expansion on Joey & Xefros' relationship being the primary interesting part, in my opinion, but getting a closer look at Alternian society is good too. I don't really think 'focusing on the Jades and Teals too much' is a valid criticism, personally - the game has no obligation to equally serve all castes, just whatever suits the story. And personally, I do think those two castes have the strongest characters that we see - although, this might just be a self-fulfilling prophecy, since they're obviously going to get the most writing (although I still enjoyed them the most in Friendsim too). My main criticism would be the trial, ostensibly the main set piece, just was not executed well, and the beginning feels weirdly barren? It's unfortunate that a game that was seemingly hamstrung a little by lack of budget blew so much of that budget in the first few areas that ended up going essentially unused.

Ultimately, I hope the ending of act 2 means a couple of useless trolls die and they can focus on those left over. I like a fair few of them (Tagora, Tyzias Lanque and Konyll come to mind) but some were total duds and not even really worth trying to rehabilitate, writing wise - who would care if Vikare, Barzum, Diemen or Azdaja got impaled by a railway spike?