LogFAQs > #950706103

DeadBankerDream posted...

And even then, the game flat out told me I was wrong for not leveling Sazh's synergist role enough before his Eidolon fight to get Haste.

Just because you weren't able to figure out how to win that fight without Haste does not mean you were forced to have Haste. That fight is eminently winnable without it.

Crystarium gives more choices than just progression through the primary roles, as there are plenty of side nodes that can temporarily or permanently* be skipped and also the secondary roles can realistically be leveled to some extent. It's a lot more open than FF4, and a lot less open than the sphere grid or the license board.

You're absolutely right that the time it takes to spend CP is way too long, especially in that "run-up" period.

edit to add:
*: permanent for typical play, obviously if going for full trophies or similar you'd eventually have to go fill these in.