I noticed it quite early on. It's more of a problem with immersion than with the story or characters; I feel connected to the characters, but I don't feel at all connected with the world. The only thing I know about the different people or cultures is from reading the Datalog. As I said, it's like the world and everyone in it does not really exist outside of the six party members. This is mostly a problem of the severe linearity of the first 10 chapters along with a complete lack of substantive interaction outside of the six main characters. Who are the minor characters in the game? You could argue for a couple, but they're very weak.
That being said, I think the game has taken strides in certain other areas (battle system, especially, and I also like the Mark system and pretty much everything else introduced by chapter 11).
