Maybe formulaic is a better description. I saw it at the time as here's a character, here are their stats, they are evil in some way. At least with some characters. Perhaps I was hoping to learn about them more slowly and organically. Though when you need to introduce a bunch of new characters things are too quick.
Mind this was just over a decade or two ago, and my more recent (sadly partial) re-read did let me appreciate things a bit more.