Thx ^^ .. sorry for making it 3 parts long in the end, but I liked to cover the aspects as good as possible 😉

The story is an excellent one. Talking to everyone and investing every corner in free exploration is definitely beneficial and rewarding and it opens up several option for the story evolution and character interaction that really feels like it matters.

Regarding the character development. On one hand it is really disappointing. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics (15 years ago) gave every character several jobs, each with individual equipment from where they learn lots of skills. There were main and secondary jobs, tons of equipment and endless adaptability and possible team setups available. Even games like the Fire Emblem series offered several jobs on every that could be combined and had chooseable and combinable traits. Compared to those, the game is really offering not much. On the other hand,it may not be necessary for this game to include such a system,as their simple approach is great overall.

In addition, the programmers are still relatively new to JRPGs. They already did a good job with Octopath Travelers. This game also had it's flaws, but was great overall. They learned a lot from previous JRPGs in history and adapt accordingly. They know definitely how to make great stories and which are the little details that they have to look add to make a game attractive,not overloaded, but still comfortable to play. So far they have one traditional and one tactical JRPG out there. I hope that they learn, work on the critics they receive, and add them accordingly. If they do, they will become excellent producers that probably even can produce quality games, such as from the early Final Fantasy series ^^