I have both similar and differing thoughts and I think on the dislike we're very similar. Particularly about the tutuorials. I eventually started ignoring them, despite being one of those "always read the tutorial" types.
tl;dr
It's my least favorite game in the series outside of Judie.
For the record, Violet and Ayesha are my favorite games in the series, and Annie is my favorite heroine.
The characters are definitely a bit over-the-top for the setting, which favors more down-to-earth characters. Gust just went way too far here. I dislike Escha quite thoroughly. Her constant blushing, even while attacking, is really starting to grate on me.
In the end, I also think what they did to the the setting is horrible. Well, it's better than dull Meruru's, but weaker than pretty much anything released after Iris 3. Totally a huge step downward from Ayesha's in every way, which hit every note as "right" with me. It doesn't help that they actually blatantly, outright, 100% reuse two of Ayesha's most prominently atmospheric areas: the first ruin stage with Nio's grave and the final dungeon area. I was pretty horrified at that, given how incredible Ayesha's final dungeon was.
After Ayesha's huge variety in music, such as battle and world map themes changing based on region, they went back to the more limited themes, most of which aren't particularly good. Two of the battle themes are okay, namely that one particular nasal chant used for a boss about halfway through the game and the lighter remix of "Yesterday's Foes are Today's Ingredients." Most of the dungeon themes are okay, nothing standout other than one or two dungeons later in the game. I think this is one of Gust's worse soundtracks in a while, but maybe my opinion will change after I listen to it outside the game.
Finally, the biggest complaint:
What they tried to do to the time system does not work.
They tried to merge the Marie/Elie/Lily/etc style with what they did in Totori/Meruru/Ayesha. The problem is that by attempting to do so they've taken away everything decent out of both systems. The earlier games were amazing because of stricter organization and time management. It's what drew me in. Then Totori/Meruru/Ayesha worked because you're given open freedom to do what you like. This game has neither. And, to make matters worse, they actually extended the traditional assignment time while making assignments easier. None of the assignments take more than 10 in-game days, out of 120 given, sometimes even fewer, and none are really hard, either. There's no putting specific traits on items, or requiring a certain quality, here, just making an item with materials you undoubtedly already have or exploring a 4 screen linear dungeon. Those are only for a few rare side-objectives. Time management is non-existent and even fulfilling all of the minor goals is not particularly difficult. but then exploration is also non-existent because there are fewer areas and they are all unlocked in a linear fashion like what is normal for the series.
Edit: I suppose it's worth mentioning that the localization isn't amazing, either. Typos are relatively common ("Slag" as "slug" during one entire conversation was strange) and many descriptions overflow their text boxes. And by "many" I mean "half of them."
There are really only a few things that I can say I outright like:
Logy is pretty neat. Probably the best male MC Gust has ever made.
The character models are beautiful, even if they feel almost too vibrant for the setting.
Crafting continues to be both complex and streamlined in its ease of use. It's very good.
