Yeah the story is mediocre. But the characters are okay, and the VA is decent for the time. Rush is Nero isn't he? The story isn't annoying me though.
Its the rest that really stands out. Take the sidequests for example, they open up completely new areas and dungeons you might never even see otherwise. Some of these quests bring you from NPC to NPC (as per fetch quests), but others let you do a puzzle, or a dungeon, or a small boss marathon. Its incredibly varied so far and I did a few dozen.
The last RPG I beat is DQXI. If I'm honest I prefer TLR. It just has better combat, better side quests and sure as hell better OST. The crafting in TLR isn't bad either, the loot system is good. I just can't get a Moldering Katana to drop right now, lol.
The game has these FFXII feels also.