This was a game that surprised me a lot! As an old school JRPG fan, I've been getting the feeling the genre has been dying out or as turned into the now acceptable, bland and cliché storylines with characters so generic and empty, they might as well be any random NPC you control under fancy combat mechanics where in the end you just end up mashing the same buttons. Not the mention the fan service weeb-fest.
This game proved me that there is still hope in this genre, but the catch is, you will either love or hate this game for the reasons pointed above. This game is very dialogue heavy, the story take its time to settle since the characters are the ones that move the plot (the prologue can take up to 4hrs or way more if you explore everything) - But it's not a bad thing, because the game very intelligently written, with moments of pure awkwardness to emotional character development.
It’s just if you aren’t used to playing what an actual old school JRPG is, you will probably think the game is slow, the graphics are dated, the combat is boring and the characters that everyone praises you don’t care for them. And you will probably be right, because it takes time and patience to reach the payoff stage
But if you are a true fan of JRPG’s you will love this one. The story is phenomenal, in most part due to the diverse and fully fleshed-out characters that will drive you to keep advancing the plot just so you can see what happens next. It’s like a good book, where you just have to keep turning page after page because you are so immerse in the experience. It doesn’t rely on fancy mechanics and graphics but rather puts its energy in creating an immerse world and characters along with a great soundtrack. And the combat can be complex if you let it to, though it can also be broken once you find the secret combo recipe :)
Honestly my only complaint is that, the world environment is so richly detailed it’s a shame you don’t interact with it that much (like plundering NPC’s houses, or finding ingredients off the road to craft meals).