Yes, we both dislike Hope, but enjoy Sahz.
I'll do a major write-up when I finish where I'll discuss more of what I mean about brainless combat, and what I feel would have made the game more fun and interesting. I will say, my biggest beef with the combat and the heart of my issues is with Break mechanics in RPGs. It is a style of gameplay I get no enjoyment from, and I feel it makes games into a formulaic mess when they try to implement them. I didn't like it Xenosaga Episode 2, hated in XIII, and didn't like it in VII Remake. I just hope that XVI doesn't have a form of it, because it will likely sink my enjoyment of the gameplay considerably.