It's a very uneven game (some 9/10 "this is cool!" gameplay loops bundled together with some 3/10 "how did this ever get released?" segments) and definitely not for everybody. The object pop-ins were noticeable, the sudden 2D-perspective-locks on later islands were worse, and it took me a while to really find a groove and get into the game, but once I did I had a great time with it.

If you want to continue playing, I recommend hunting down and completing all the "?" map challenges before working on other objectives. Some of them are designed to train necessary but non-obvious skills, and having a full map makes it a lot easier to get around and pick your battles.

Also, starfall events give you so many fishing tokens that Big's fishing minigame becomes the single best way to gather resources and level up. It's totally gamebreaking but it's Big the Cat so it's great.