Which part is a chore - not knowing what to do due to the language barrier, the fetch questing, or something else?
The fetch questing.
I didn't know much Japanese when I started, but actually, I had several huge gaps between playing this game, and consequentially when I finally forced myself to finish it was after I'd completed my Japanese major and lived in Japan for a year. My experience was that it sucked whether you understand it or not.
I'm a HUUUUUGE Falcom fan, but I just can't like this game. It's god awful. Falcom, as great as they are, have made quite a few missteps, and this is one of them. And you can't say I didn't give it a chance, because I finished it, and it is looong. Too long. To be fair, it does have its good moments in some of the dungeons and sidescrolling parts, but those parts are too far in between. I'd take levelling over fetch questing anyway. Especially since levelling is pretty fun in this game.
Luckily, Falcom made necessary improvements in the second, and I love it. (Might have been nice if they'd kept the sidescrolling stages instead of just bosses though.) I just finished my third run through the game over my lifetime. Something about it just keeps me coming back. First one? I'm glad to have it over with, and I'd prefer not to revisit it.
We'll have to disagree on this one, but I still have a hard time believing that anyone who claims to like this one isn't forcing it a bit. If it really is just my preference, I'm glad to hear it though. Yay Falcom.
I'm curious how much time you guys are putting into this. Are you just busy with other stuff and haven't played much, or are you sinking in hours and hours and getting nowhere?
I think this quote alone illustrates what's wrong with the game. In my case, it was all of the above.