Well.

Two hours into the game.

It's very interesting, though it's also making some fundamental fumbles in the opening.

Such as? I felt "meh" about the game up until i got out onto Bionis' Knee, then it started to pick up. Curious about what you had problems with.

Too long an introduction without the proper hook action-wise

Too much shit to keep track of

Too many gameplay systems and menus

Majora's Mask is the only JRPG that ever justified having a damned quest log

Can't really dispute any of that, though some of those menus are damn useful. You can control the time of day and quick-warp anywhere you've ever visited except during sensitive moments of the story. It is all thrown at you a bit quickly, however, and i often forgot what some functions did or it took me many gameplay hours to discover or rediscover them. Though i must say i haven't been playing a game for this many hours per day since, oh, Monster Hunter Tri or so.

THis day/night system better serve a purpose beyond making me run around areas for hours trying to track down people  for affinity lines and the unfulfilling sidequests

It better

Well, you see...

I got nothin'.

"Oh I see, if I talk to people while they gossip about each other, it increase affinities and gives me bonuses. Probably free slot gear like I got for picking up those flowers. This girl just mentioned an artist, so I better go find Kenny again!

Doo doo doo, hey here's where Kenny

Was

SON OF A BITCH WHY IS THIS PLACE SO BIG"

Whilst true, the vast majority of missing H2H's are because of story events not being met. All of them in Colony 6 require a certain rebuild level, for example, and some in Alcamoth can only be activated after a certain point in the game. Same as most areas which are involved in the plot I believe. 

And each character has 3 H2H's with each other character, so 18 can't be activated without the final character.

You just need to chillax. Everything will settle down after a while, and you'll get used to where the characters are. I mean, Kenny is found in Tranquil Square between 9AM-4PM, and Betty is hiding behind a rose bush by a house where Franciose lives, spying on Kenny. From 4PM-11PM, he'll walk from Tranquil Square, around the residential district and into the commercial district, where he'll wait under a tree on the way to the Commercial District, where he'll stay from 11PM-5AM. From 5AM to 9AM, he'll walk back to the Tranquil Square, where his day starts again. 

And I haven't done anything with him for over 3 months, but I remember, since their patterns are so regular and easy to follow. Everything just seems...overwhelming at first. And the introduction is better than 99% of JRPG's. And the quest log is needed, there's over 450 quests, and most of them have several parts. And if you leave a quest for ages, you might forget about it. Best to have a record, no?

And the quests can give you much needed exp., money for rebuilding...somewhere, 2 additional skill trees for each character (a must-have really), 2 Monado Arts, the best gems in the game, and the best armour in the game, and the best weapons in the game, and to increase affinity so you can trade for better stuff, and complete the collectopedia. Just ignore the quests from nameless NPC's, like "Monster Quest 3", because you'll do most of them without trying. 

Finally, the day-night cycle allows you to change the weather in most areas, producing different enemies, UM's and enviroments. I wouldn't judge too early, because it is overwhelming. But you'll get there. Stick with it, because it'll fall into place soon.