Honestly, that does explain some of the horrible writing. During the cringe-worthy meetcute, the main character a total dick to his love interest. Like it was written by someone who doesn’t know how people who like each other actually talk. I’m not the least bit surprised it passed muster for the guy in that interview.
Basically, Days Gone is just like Horizon: Zero Dawn. A solid open-world design that insists on the stinking up the joint with actively bad storytelling all up in your face because a) it takes itself too seriously and b) it has no idea how bad it is. Deadly combo.
-Tom