I once addressed the Episode 1 issue in the form of rebuttals to imaginary criticisms. This is what I came up with:
Complaint: The prerendered maps are too simplistic and identical.
Rebuttal: Most people who makes this complaint have usually only played through half of Episode 1. Episode 2 only has 1 or 2 used in the intro, while the rest are highly interactive chipsets. Past that, the prerendered backgrounds become highly diversified, depicting a gamut of distinct environments (Episode 5 in particular). Later episodes make them fairly interactive as well, and while it's true they're never as dynamic as chipset based maps, the fact is only about 2% of the actual gameplay takes place on these maps, where as the big, interactive dungeons and cities are entirely made from chipsets.
I'd also like to note out that I've tried my hand at preparing and implementing Bryce 3D renders in RM2K, and neither part of it is very easy. Some of the panoramas Lun prepared blow my mind that he was even able to make them, let alone make them look nice for RPG Maker (see: Episode 5).
Complaint: The plunge is boring and you're always scripted to lose.
Rebuttall: Another complaint stemming from those shallow enough to give up halfway through Episode 1. Past the end of episode 1, there isn't a single plunge where you have nothing else to do but lose. And by the time links, blade arts, risk attacks, and finishers factor in, the rock-paper-scissors element is actually one of the less important elements in the plunge, creating a much deeper system that's more about the strategy of storing up and choosing special attacks then picking the right corner of the attack triangle.
Complaint: Episode 1 is slow and boring or too difficult to get in to.
Rebuttal: This is of course a directly related to the last two, and it's a bit harder to defend than the others, mainly because it's most subjective. Personally, I was hooked instantly by the interesting premise and gorgeous atmosphere, but others want something more tangible right away, I guess. Part of the reason it's so slow is because with episodic gaming, you want to do a more gradual reveal of more systems and gameplay elements to keep each episode fresh, so the first episodes are always going to be a little sparse, and the later ones complex. And I'm loathed to make the comparison, but even most professional console RPGs these days have a Tycho-coined "sawdust eating phase" at the beginning (hello, Tales of Symphonia), but I like to think The Way has better reasons for being slow other than building up to some melodramatic story point. And yes, the scene where you can murder 5 "Brian" (RPG maker speak, ignore it if you don't know) clones in a row is utterly ridiculous, but hey, can't win 'em all.
Honestly, I thought the slowest Episode was Episode 3, but that's not a complaint. Episode 5 and particularly Episode 3 were the only episodes where you really got a tangible feel of "Wandering The Way", which is an experience too good to put into words.