It fixed a ton of flaws with FFTA. The only thing it really failed on, in my opinion, was the main storyline. It's not a bad story, but it is exceptionally short (SPOILER)(you'll be able to figure out within the first three missions that there are only 20 missions in it, by looking at your quest report and journal) and feels a little incomplete, in my opinion.
But the side-quests more than make up for it. This game is made for the side quests. There is a huge variety of subquests, a large number of incredible quest chains, and they all drag you in and just let you have fun. Instead of just dispatching or fighting, you get quests to deliver items, explore the world map, hunt up in-game lore, run a shop, and other incredibly fun objectives. There is, of course, still plenty of fighting, but even then, it never gets boring. You get to hunt the oversized marks (like the giant cockatrice [or crushatrice, as it is known in the game] that you remember from the trailers), take part in speed fights where you have to land the killing blow on an opponent before an allied clan does, protect allies and inanimate objects from your enemies, and retrieve items and treasures lost in the fields during the fight. And more. The quest objectives are many and varied, and they are all fun. The writing in them is excellent. You get funny and ridiculous moments, but also deeply moving ones. Even the minor characters are paid attention to enough to give them a personality, and it just engrosses you in the world.
Sorry for going on and on there, but I love this game's approach to sidequests. While it would be nice if the main story was longer, I wish more games would put the sheer number of detailed sidequests into them that we get in this one. It made the world come alive.
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