The plot badly needs some pruning shears taken to it; to say that it moves at a snails pace is an insult to snails. Like, why did we need an entire faux high school arc? There's plot-relevant stuff there, but they can cut most of that and the game would be better. Filler arcs in a story that's...what, ten games now? That's why this series is still obscure, despite there being a lot to like here.
If you need something to scratch that JRPG itch, you can do a lot worse, and there's a reason this series shows up on "hidden gems" list. But...damn. There's so much content and story, and a fair chunk is little better than filler.