I had a similar reaction!
Spending a couple extra hours wrapping up quests and collecting conches (on the recommendation of a friend) wound up being well worth it for me, the true ending felt much more satisfying.
For what it's worth, all the quests take somewhere around 20-40 minutes each, if I remember correctly. Even the collection quest wasn't too bad, thanks to the treasure finding parrot.
Why do you say that? My understanding is that "only two choices" is true and accurate because of how the electoral college works.