It depends on your level. I was 83 (I think he's 82) so had little issues, but I was frustrated from time to time.

I think some of the cutscenes were quite long, but only really 2 or 3 areas in the game does in matter (Fallen Arm, Mechonis Core, Space Memory). Aside from that, the cutscenes were of a perfect length, and you're looking at around 90-95 hours of gameplay at least for 5-6 hours of cutscenes. That's a mighty fair trade-off compared to must modern games (*Cough*FFXIII*Cough*Uncharted*Cough*). 

You planning on returning to doing the sidequests now?

At the colony gates. You'll get a mission to beat up some bad guys on the Lake Raguel bridge and then you have to report in to Juju who waits at the Refugee Camp. Upon reporting, Juju will tell you that the people will be moving once you confirm the completion of this mission, so you get a choice between "yes" and "no". There are 23 timed sidequests (technically 24, but one of them is branching, so it's 23 you can complete) at the Refugee Camp which are obviously recorded in the Bionis Leg section of the quest log. One of these timed sidequests is a spontaneous one that triggers at the waterfall in the southeast of the Gaur Plains.

At the colony gates. You'll get a mission to beat up some bad guys on the Lake Raguel bridge and then you have to report in to Juju who waits at the Refugee Camp. Upon reporting, Juju will tell you that the people will be moving once you confirm the completion of this mission, so you get a choice between "yes" and "no". There are 23 timed sidequests (technically 24, but one of them is branching, so it's 23 you can complete) at the Refugee Camp which are obviously recorded in the Bionis Leg section of the quest log. One of these timed sidequests is a spontaneous one that triggers at the waterfall in the southeast of the Gaur Plains.

Just one more, the cuttest one

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.

I assume you mean cutest? And I'm afraid that particular prize goes to Melia

And for the record this doesn't really address my problem with the sidequests, in that they're just thinly veiled ways to incentivize running around for longer than I would otherwise, and exist as a way to extend gameplay without giving me a sense of emotional resonance

That may change

But it's the first impression the game gives, and first impressions are important

-.-