I got bored with the first just as I was preparing for (what I assume was) the final rush to the finish line. I'm not sure why I stopped playing at that point.

Probably because I maxed out the player stats? In an RPG my attention to the game seems to be directly related to increasing my player's stats and collecting 'stuff'. As soon as the game switches over to, "OK, no you MUST take this path and there's no turning back... oh, and you're not going to get anything for it but a cutscene at the end," I completely lose interest.