I'm having a load of fun with LoS2, but if an alleged disgruntled source is believable: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=776423

After the success of the first, Mercury Steam's CEO went into egomaniac control freak mode, had absolute say over everything, and exercised his veto power to such an extent that the art director left midway through the project, followed by some more staff. Konami weren't happy with the finished product, and apparently changed the ending because it was too depressing (not that I'm anywhere near there, but folks seem to be saying the scrapped one was better). And with the game's conclusion, 35 people have now apparently been fired, and more are to come.

What's amazing to me is how much fun I'm actually having with this thing. While it's true that it feels uneven, combat's better than the first and some of these enemy designs are damned incredible.