I'll keep this spoiler free.
I'm one of many that dropped this game within an hour of play on release. I haven't touched it since then, but with the recent release of a new Amnesia title I got back to thinking about this one. I saw some positive comments (with reservations) and how it gets a better as you progress. So I decided to give it another chance.
There are quite a number negatives. Admittedly, a lot of the negatives have to do with my preferences/tastes. Babies/children give me the heebie-jeebies, so I didn't connect to the protagonist. Granted, that's more of a problem with me rather than the writing/story. People don't have to relate/connect to everything, but it helps in a horror title.
The pacing is constantly interrupted with flashbacks. It's most noticeable around the first quarter of the game and towards the end. This game features a talking protagonist. That talks. A lot. It shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but it happens when you are exploring, are in the middle of figuring things out, or have figured something out and have already come to terms with it. Then you have to wait for the protagonist to deal with it making you wait. Control does get taken away at times making you wait yet again.
I feel like the game "started" when you reached the fort. That's when you finally feel the tension and stress you were looking forward to. Eventually (around mid-game to late game) the fear+tension drop, or go away almost completely. I don't want to speculate on this/gameplay a lot as this isn't the main reason why I played this. It also didn't bother me as much because I'm happy focusing on the environments+story as long as the gameplay isn't too distracting or is serviceable.
Those were my biggest gripes with the game.
Positives. Eventually the story starts to unfold and you begin to piece together the picture. Especially once you reach a certain place. This is when I finally a found a footing with the game and determined to complete it. Also, completing the first Amnesia title makes the story much more interesting.
In the end I'm glad I gave it another shot. Per the comment that inspired me to give it another go, try it if you enjoyed Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness/etc. This game, in a way, delivers on that front.
tl;dr the story and environment get interesting (eventually)