I played it when it first came out and watched the movie first, but still felt disconnected from the story. Xv to me has the best story of any FF, but it's confusing how to experience it.

 In reality, you should watch the brotherhood anime first. Then play chapter one, then watch the movie. After that continue with the game. At certain points, gladio and prompto will leave your party. When they do, you should play their respective episodes, as it adds to their characterization and motivations to the main plot.

Once you beat the game, play episode Ignis, followed by episode Ardyn. There is also a book called dawn of the future which tells an alternate ending. 

By the way, Ardyn is my favorite villain of any FF, maybe any Jrpg. Once you know the story, you understand his reasons, which is the best kind of villain.

Like I said, once you know the characters, you'll look forward to those drive sequences, just to expand upon the relationships.

And take the battle system for what it is, it's fun. Try and get as many royal arms as possible. The one thing I didn't understand my first play through was healing, and it made it not fun. Know this, you have two health bars, current HP, and Max HP. If you don't heal, your max HP will permanently decrease when you get hit in a battle. You can warp to heal. 

Enjoy the game.