Been on a nice little Tales run this year (Abyss, DOTNW, Graces f) and really enjoyed this game. Played 80 hours and did pretty much everything you can do in one playthrough. Jade was my favorite character (Anise my least favorite), didn't mind post-haircut Luke, followed along with the story just fine. Would agree that the game felt a bit too long or just poorly paced. Don't really like it when games feel like they "end" three times.
FWIW I'd rank those three games like:
Gameplay: Graces f > Abyss > DOTNW
Story & Cast: Abyss > Graces f >>>>>> DOTNW
Nope, I didn't like DOTNW much at all.
Play Vesperia.