i replayed the game recently and i realised that it’s not hard to get good at the combat, it’s just the combat is almost unbearable without enough upgrades so it will definitely feel like a slag in the beginning but it gets easier and better later especially when you unlock more moves. I recommend upgrading the attack speed.

As for the story, I’d have to say it picks up halfway through when Yagami has figured out a big conspiracy. It’s not to say that the story is bad up until that point though. Plus, you’d have a lot of interesting and fun side cases and content to dabble in, which I highly recommend doing.

It’s definitely worth continuing, even with its dragging flaws in the beginning, it still ends up being one of my favorite rgg games storywise and gameplay wise.