Pretty much now the game gets interesting. You can do all the side quests without wondering what comes next in the story. Some of the side quests are really worth doing, some are hard and got not so great of rewards for doing it. I would suggests getting Excalibur, Ultima, and the Zodiac Escutcheon in one go. If your up for it you can tackle Omega too but I didn't. I waited until all my characters were leveled up then went back.