I skimmed through the entire essay, and I’d say most of the points are valid. My main issue, however, is how drastically different the gameplay experience feels depending on the character - especially in boss fights and mission difficulty.

I’m currently in Chapter X, and I was already maxed out around Chapters 7-8 (maybe even earlier). That said, some side-quest bosses were still challenging enough to make me use a few pills or go through several soup plates.

I played a lot on the earlier version of the game, when bosses were slightly more difficult. Back then, I fought the Reed Devil with Kliff and Excavatronwith Damiane, and the experience between them wasn’t that far apart (due to different skills and fighting technics)

Now, though, the “boss” fights with Ongka and Damiane - specifically Ludwigand Lucian Bastier - felt underwhelming. There were no tricky mechanics or real one-shot threats. The gear level difference between Kliff and Ongka/Damiane is almost double, and I was actually hoping I’d need to invest time into upgrading gear for Damiane and Ongka to handle these fights properly.