This is one of those games that I never played, but heard years later that there was a cult following for it.
A friend of mine apparently played it during childhood, and it’s one of their core games of that era. The variety of gameplay with the bright yet grim style just spoke to them deeply.
From what I’ve played and heard, it’s a bit of a “reset” after the highs of Endwalker, and the story takes a while to get started. It takes 20 quests to even reach the first new dungeon, which will take at least an hour+ of gameplay and cutscenes. I’m still looking forward to getting through it, but I understand the muted responses.