People who think KI S1 did not have dumb stuff in the game are not thinking back with an objective mind. We didn’t really know how to play KI that well, since it was such a different style of game with a lot to explore, but the writing was on the wall even after just 6 months. If it wasn’t for a big shakeup to the mechanics in S2, the game was going to devolve extremely quickly.
KI S1 was very fun while we were exploring the game and didn’t know much about it. But it was not going to be a good game long term. Lots of people fall into the trap of remembering the good times without factoring in how the player knowledge increasing would impact the experience. Playing S1 seriously with what we know now about KI would be a disaster.