I'm glad you mentioned the similarity to Metroid's method for telling backstory, b/c I noticed the same thing. It's especially apparent as you kill more and more mobs which opens up various tidbits of information in the hunt list, very much like the information you gather in metroid by scanning surroundings. I wish there was a little more backstory/sideplots with the main characters, but it's such a small complaint compared with the delight with the other aspects of the story. I could play a game for 10,000 hours and still be disappointed that it's over and there's no more story.