I had no expectations going into this game as it was my first star ocean... I actually really enjoyed it. I quite liked the cheese, and the battle system was fun.
The characters were REALLY generic, sure, but that was half the fun for me.
Once I get a ps3 I'll probably pick up the international version and give it another whirl. I'm not sure if I could honestly recommend SO4... but I really did enjoy my time with it. There are also some pretty funny moments in it too.

Though.... SO3 is SO MUCH better than it in really every way at least to me. The big thing for me about SO3 is characters that are far more interesting and the battle system feels far less spammy due to the stamina bar.
Except as you said, the first disc in that game REALLY drags.