There was a time I rated this 10/10 and as my favorite in the series, but replaying it took the shine off of it a bit. The plot is pretty bare bones, which sure the plot is always a bit wonky in these games and it's the characters you really care about, but this one's is so meandering and barely goes anywhere. I mean it literally goes somewhere, to another planet, and I still think learning about the technologically advanced but fallen world of Fodra is great, but it and the twists are the highlight of the plot and everything else was just waiting to get there. I liked all the Lamda stuff when I first played it, but I think it's a bit lackluster compared to all the other game's antagonists and their backstories. Asbel is also not nearly as good as I remember him being, maybe it's just because his arc isn't done very well. Well really, it's that the early stuff where group has fallen apart due to losing a friend isn't handled as well as I remember, which is probably due to my standards for that kind of thing in a game's story being upped by Omori. However, the characters, including Asbel, are all still really endearing and most of their arcs are well done(Malik's is a little rushed to say the least...), with the standouts for me still being Pascal, Hubert, and Sophie. The combat is absolutely fantastic, best in the series and has always made up for any shortcomings in the story department whereas it's usually the other way around. There's a ton of fun to be had, it's not as great as I remember it(which may be down to heightened standards), but it's still a great time and one of the best in the series for me. Wish they'd expanded on this combat system instead of, you know, not.