So, I didn't equip Air Raid until the end and yes it is a cheap move.  And on top of that I removed his Laser Weapon so it doesn't feel overpowered on the last stage.  Other than that, I find Felia to be a waist of space and some characters die too easily. 

There is a layer of complexity to the battle system in the form of roles.  Ther are a ton of rolls and mastering one opens others.  The roles effect the way your character acts in battle while also providing stat boosts.  I feel like the really getting a hold of how to put them together is the mastery of the battle system, but it is overwhelming at first.  The guage bonus attacks are strong a hell but I need more time to figure out how to properly manipulate it.

The open world battles is the best aspect and also the worst because it causes some frame drops in certain battles and it is very noticable and distracting.

Sometimes enimies will just murder you.  Other times those same enimies will be complete pushovers.   The auto targeting system suck balls.  The manual one is better but not by much.  Sometimes I would just cheat by just using Miki to heal the team while my team went buck wild on a boss. 

After I beat the game tonight, I will have to:

Go back and spend 20+ hours getting materials to build super soilders (par for the couse and expected)

Kill Celeste and Etherial Queen. 

Dominate the arena.  

Find the farmable Fol and EXP monsters.

Get all to 255.

I don't mind the short story because the after game is so damn long.. might as well cut straight to it.  I still have about another 100 hours left to go.

Everyone said SO4 was terrible and i enjoyed it.

I actually already ordered the new star ocean. There was a deal on it for 36euros. For a game that released 5 days ago that is not bad. Yes, i know it's only 20 hours. That is part of the reason why i got it. It would strain my backlog too much otherwise.

For those of us who have been in this industry for the last 15-20 years or so... doesn't it seem like AAA games disappoint more than they use to? Back in the day, when a game was hyped by magazines like say, SMB3... it delivered. Now you see games hyped to the heavens and back and then fall flat on their faces.

Could it be corruption? Maybe now, companies pay off the media until review time to make games seem worthwhile? I don't know what it is but it sure seems like something has changed.

SO5 isn't a bad game per say. It's just a bit dated. If you like solid JRPGS this is a no brainer. I do wish it had a bit more to offer in length. I mean, the SNES era had games that were 20-25 hours long. I kinda expect $60 to go a little bit further. The gameplay is solid, a lot of the voice acting is cringe worthy, it's standard JRPG fare.

I have to disagree on account of the fact that I am not dissapointed.  At all.  it is exactly what I thought it would be. 

I don't understand how ppl keep saying the graphics are amazing, the characters don't even have expressions, it looks outdated as hell. Enviroments are bland, character models lack details, it screams low budget, specialy whe you consider Square can do FFXV level of graphics.

He's not kidding either. Star Ocean 5 is only 20 hours if haul ass to the end. If you plan on getting the plat I can already forsee 80-100 hours. At least there are no pain in the ass battle trophies. You seem pretty far. I just to quest to find second research facility after doing operation snakes eyes. Without spoiling, how far would you say I am? 

The characters do have expressions. Its just the way they went about cutscense, camera so far away you dont get to see the face animate. Yeah, I would not say graphics are "amazing". There passable. 

You are over the halfway point.  The story really picks up after that.  You will be done in about 10 hours max. 

Spoiler:

Right before the final boss a portal appears that will take you back to your house.  If you go see Welch she will give so the final task (assuming you did the others).  You up the long streching road up the mountain in Soma to fight the creatures then return to her.  You will now have the weapon and armor augmentation ability meaning you can become a demigod before the final boss if you want to.   I don't have duplication and I don't want to take forever so I will probaly create 2 super laser weapons and armors then step on the final boss' throat and continue in the postgame.