I just finished the story this week. I don't know why it's not working for you - I liked how it feels, but have to admit the story didn't grip me as much as in the previous game. It looks like it's setting up an interesting character journey for Cal for the third game though.

I'd say, try not to get distracted with the open world - explore a little bit, but try to stick to the main story so you can finish it before you burn out on the open world (I learned this the hard way with Witcher 3 and AC: Valhalla).

I've been thinking of trying to 100% Survivor, but will probably give up on collecting all the things. Especially that there's an unfixed bug in the bounty hunters side quest that doesn't let you finish it.