Thank you, Andrew Willman. Now that I've beaten the game and true final boss, I can say this has truly been one of the most fun RPG experiences I've ever had.

Now for the details:
The game's combat system is great. It's very detailed, pretty thoroughly explained by the Ducks (extremely little is hidden from the player), and hits a good balance between player power and enemy strength. I greatly enjoyed how enemies get harder as the game progresses, turning boss battles (and indeed, the stronger regular battles) into puzzles to be solved, rather than health bars to be mashed through. Brainstorming when away from the game to find ways to make hard fights easier, or in a few cases, outright simple, was a ton of fun. Definitely got that rush of finding a way to "cheese" fights, that was almost certainly intended as an option (enemy status resistances are pretty deliberate). Enemy attack info being shown in the menus also helps add a level of strategy and planning, and indeed pattern recognition, instead of close battles feeling luck-based. Study up!

The job system reminded me of Final Fantasy V or Bravely Default at a glance, but it goes much further than they do. Job skills and passives, though seemingly limiting at first (due to weapon requirements on skills), play together in neat ways that open up a lot of strategies, some more obvious than others.

Exploring may be hit or miss for people, but for me it was a hit. I enjoyed roaming around and listening to the music, finding secret passages and barely feasible jumping spots. I even broke the progression achievements by going extra far off the beaten path (that's been fixed!). Found myself pondering in the late game how I might play again later and try to do a minimum boss run, or get the mounts in reverse order, and see how it changes things. A few tips: use your map markers, and unless the enemy flames are orange/red, you're probably going an acceptable direction. Take a path until it will take you no further, then try another.

It's not the perfect game for everyone, but it's the perfect game for me, and I hope others who play will enjoy it as much as I did.