I never got around to TLOS but always hear great things. TLOS 2 has seemingly been more divisive, though I may be mixing that up with something.

The mechanic you stated with the crowbar, making the player do something horrific, is great when utilized right, and "right" always means, among other factors, "sparingly". Two examples come to mind - the companion cube in Portal and the finale of Prince of Persia 2008. In the latter part, you're told to make a choice, but it's literally do what the game tells you to do... or turn off the game and write your own finale. It works well. Shame to hear that TLOS2 considers it to be a hammer to which every scenario is a nail.