It's not the best Tales Of game... but that isn't saying much, because most of them are pretty jank.

Story
It sets a new standard in JRPGs because instead of killing religion and/or God you're trying to bring it back. Sadly, that is a landmark. Also sadly, the plot falls apart halfway through because... well, Tales Of game. The final fight and ending somehow makes up for it though, both of which are very thematic.
Don't get the DLC story though, it leaves on a cliffhanger and nothing actually really happens.

Characters
Interesting, but unfortunately a lot of wasted potential. You play as what is basically the Messiah, and all the cons that come with being one in a time of great unrest. There's a lot of great moments about this characterization, especially in the early game. Like the rest of the game, however, it all falls wayside halfway through, only really being redeemed by the ending moment.
The rest of the characters are fine. Nothing that stands out too much, except perhaps Edna. Nothing noteworthy of the series though.
This is the first and only game in the series so far that has a canonical gay ship. I suppose that's worth something.

Gameplay
Encounters now take place in the exact area where you find them. This would have been a good idea if the world was designed around it. It is not. Each character also has too few skills to learn and the game is bogged down by an unnecessarily-complicated gear system. Still, the fights are fun on higher difficulties and couch coop is a rarity not enough JRPGs allow, so even with the janky system and story, we still enjoyed it as a group.

Design
Dungeon design has not improved for the Tales Of Team in two decades. They are still terrible. If you've played Tales Of games before and were somehow were okay with mediocrity, then you know what to expect.

Music
This game has 14 good tracks. Go Shiina composed 13 of those.
Not only does it ironically still somehow have the most good tracks in the Tales Of series in two decades, most of them weren't even composed by the main composer, Motoi Sakuraba.

Fire that man and replace him with Go Shiina already.

Conclusion
Despite my many MANY criticisms, this is still somehow one of the better Tales Of games, and it still manages to fall in the area of mediocrity. If you want to play a unique JRPG where you aren't killing God or religion again... well, I'd say there are worse picks, but really, there aren't a lot of JRPGs where you revive religion instead of killing it.

But hey, if you're a raging atheist and killing God and religion is your past time, you probably won't like this game. There are other reasons not to like it too anyway.

It's not the best Tales Of game... but that isn't saying much, because most of them are pretty jank. [b]Story[/b] It sets a new standard in JRPGs because instead of killing religion and/or God you're trying to bring it back. Sadly, that is a landmark. Also sadly, the plot falls apart halfway through because... well, Tales Of game. The final fight and ending somehow makes up for it though, both of which are very thematic. Don't get the DLC story though, it leaves on a cliffhanger and nothing actually really happens. [b]Characters[/b] Interesting, but unfortunately a lot of wasted potential. You play as what is basically the Messiah, and all the cons that come with being one in a time of great unrest. There's a lot of great moments about this characterization, especially in the early game. Like the rest of the game, however, it all falls wayside halfway through, only really being redeemed by the ending moment. The rest of the characters are fine. Nothing that stands out too much, except perhaps Edna. Nothing noteworthy of the series though. This is the first and only game in the series so far that has a canonical gay ship. I suppose that's worth something. [b]Gameplay[/b] Encounters now take place in the exact area where you find them. This would have been a good idea if the world was designed around it. It is not. Each character also has too few skills to learn and the game is bogged down by an unnecessarily-complicated gear system. Still, the fights are fun on higher difficulties and couch coop is a rarity not enough JRPGs allow, so even with the janky system and story, we still enjoyed it as a group. [b]Design[/b] Dungeon design has not improved for the Tales Of Team in two decades. They are still terrible. If you've played Tales Of games before and were somehow were okay with mediocrity, then you know what to expect. [b]Music[/b] This game has 14 good tracks. Go Shiina composed 13 of those. Not only does it ironically still somehow have the most good tracks in the Tales Of series in two decades, most of them weren't even composed by the main composer, Motoi Sakuraba. Fire that man and replace him with Go Shiina already. [b]Conclusion[/b] Despite my many MANY criticisms, this is still somehow one of the better Tales Of games, and it still manages to fall in the area of mediocrity. If you want to play a unique JRPG where you aren't killing God or religion again... well, I'd say there are worse picks, but really, there aren't a lot of JRPGs where you revive religion instead of killing it. But hey, if you're a raging atheist and killing God and religion is your past time, you probably won't like this game. There are other reasons not to like it too anyway.