I love the game and all, but there are problems. The whole equipment thing reminds me of Mass Effect 1, you get so much shit but the majority of it you're not even going to use.
The quests themselves aren't that exciting, but the fact that you never have to go back to a quest giver to turn it in is really nice (with a few small exceptions like the watch fixing quest). I tend to just do the collection and kill quests as I travel normally through the world.
The battle system is a lot like FFXII, but I personally found it more engaging, with different abilities having bonus effects based on your positioning, and the whole Monado seeing the future aspect. In Final Fantasy games, unless you know a boss strategy, often times they will use a crazy ability midfight that you are entirely unprepared for, so you learn by trial and error. I recall a boss in the Golmore Jungle in FFXII who pretty much puts every status effect on your party at some point and its ridiculous. Of course many bosses do have some fair tells so you know whats coming, FFX I found had some good boss moments. The Monado future visions is designed to avoid crap where one of your party members or your entire party can easily be one-shot and you instantly lose, which I liked a lot.
I think its a great game, but it was immensely overhyped, and its not for everyone definitely. It didn't singlehandedly revolutionize JRPGs like a lot of people thought, but I felt it did a lot more right than many others I have played.