The first one was about finding the small joys in a horrible world and fighting for it, sometimes against better judgement. It was suffering but there was something close to hope with it. A lot of people complaints on this is that it is all suffering all the time, aimed to make you feel bad and bad about yourself.
On the gameplay, that's fair enough from your standpoint, but there are people who disagree.
And fair point on the crunch, but again I know there are people who just dont like that aspect.
Maybe it didn't have an effect on the review bomb, but it is fair to say there is some criticism of the game which is not just "stick it to the SJW's".
Basically this game improves on all aspects of gameplay, it doesn't revolutionise it but there is a lot more to it than the first and the first game didn't get review bombed for the way it played. Sure some liked it, some didn't but nobody got hung up on it.
As for the way the story has changed between the first and second well I'll spoiler tag (I won't spoil the second game)
Spoiler
Didnt you ever think it was strange how Joel survived 20 years. I mean he didn't fluke that, he did some horrible fucked up shit most likely. The game just never explored it. Then at the end he shoots Marlene, he shoots doctors, and then lies to Ellie about it. Because (and these are his words in the first) you keep finding something to live for. And Joel found Ellie.
Ellie almost gets raped at one point so there are a lot of dark things happening throughout.
There are small joys in this game, I won't say what but living in the world they do, they could be considered joys. The game or games in this case show you just how fucked up human beings are, or would be. Just like the walking dead, the infected are just a distraction now, it's the humans who each one believe they are fighting for the right cause and the right people and revenge is a part of that.
If people think the violence is too much or the themes are too dark, they aren't doing anything which thousands of people haven't done before them. Maybe not on a gaming platform but for me that just makes the experience more immersive.
Also nobody had a problem with Trevor from GTA being a torturing, murdering rapist. The guys at Rockstar, they actually went out of there way to make it comical.