Like other Tales game, we'll never know the meaning of everything after the "Tales of"

I just can't get into it and don't really get why it has such raving reviews.
The battles feel awful. you can hit like 2 times and a special and then you just stand there for a second. Apparently you get higher tiered specials that can be chained on later on, but I dunno when that will be. Blocking is not parying and basically useless.
Personally I have a dislike for turn based battles, but honestly, I would have preferred if it was turn based here.

World map traversal has enemies that just spawn out of nowhere, and sometimes right in front of you.
World map traversal is a pain. Sometimes it's actually pretty good like here:
https://ad.gamersky.info/@steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3427981969
But very often the game just zooms way into your character, directly from the top, and you can't change the camera angle at all and can't see further than 2-3 steps.
https://ad.gamersky.info/@steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3427982675

Also, it's an awful port. You can technically play it with keybard (no mouse tho) but it's so bad it basically requires a controller, which is always a sign of a bad port. It only runs at 30 FPS and even needs a mod so it doesn't stutter.

How this thing is regarded as he best tales game with those crappy mechanics, I have no idea. Sure, I didn't play too many of them, just Arise and Berseria, but both were leagues better.
Maybe the story makes up for it, I'm just 4 hours in, but I'm already pondering if I should just uninstall it, I have no fun playing.
Perhaps I'll just set battles on auto, slap on a trainer and just sit there waiting them out so I can see where the story goes..

Game play slighty outdated and slowish, Movement is a little clunky but the same as the classics all from that era.

the story is fantastic. many plot twists and oh Snap moments, def worth a play through.

being a FF fan for many years i cant help but think the story telling was done much better in this game there the FF scene if thats something to put into perpective.