I'm now up to Leviathan's Trench, and still having a good time. I'm enjoying the battles though they're not phenomenal, and my biggest problem so far is probs how cumbersome navigating the menus can be. But the story is getting more interesting: I liked the stuff with the friendly innkeeper who was secretly running horrifying experiments on the living, and how we're gradually getting teased information on the titular Echoes (soul fragments from past lives that can reach new life and be retained as memories, or something). The politics (and our magic nuke) are still ramping up as we're introduced to more pieces and more players, no complaints so far on that front.
I'm very pleased with the character work so far. Robb's snobbish attitude is likely him overcompensating for being treated so poorly as a ward in Lenne's palace (or that's at least how he's been taught the upper class should act). Lenne herself was beginning to annoy me with her 'I'm not a naive princess!!' shtick, but the game is reinforcing how she very much is still naive so that bodes well. I really like Glenn, a good-hearted and not super intelligent lead. Him straight up asking for info on the grimoire as his reward... oh, Glenn. He's still not fully processed his guilt for detonating the nuke, of course. My fav overall moment may be the talk he and Kylian have in Tormund, where Kylian explains his desire to create a better world via nuclear deterrence, and Glenn not mincing words at all when he says his comatose sister would be horrified at him having become a monster.
Sienna is largely comic relief but I'm enjoying her, the new guy who speaks in plurals is fine, and I was finding Victor a bit too omniscient but we've now had the development from Gwayn that he's using us for his own reasons. And that Glenn is the echo of... someone. Interesting! Some good music, and the areas mostly look pretty beautiful. Tormund and the swamp area in particular. I'm ready for the gameplay to expand but we're getting items in the stores for Sky Armors so I assume they'll be coming into play soon.
No longer becoming a Final Fantasy aficionado.