We streamed it twice one full play through over the course of a few weeks and then one one up to wind town day of 1.25.
In both instances the combat being a slog or nothing because of LP toss was a big point of contention. I should also say despite all odds I do like this game but I can live with a lot of the crap and see it for what it is.
But the increase of more choice and like actual tactical use of stuff like panda and other party members decisions being made on top of just faster turns was nice. I got to level 70ish in the first run and I am going to go as high as the game will let me with NG+ but like the feeling that more than just Alex matters during the bulk of the gamepaly is such a huge boon to me.
Also the Mini games being like 1.5 seconds long for basic attacks is great and you can still do the beat downs for amped damage.
I will say its so incredibly wild the game explains nothing about the new mechanics and a THIRD PARTY made a guide for how it works that the DEVS linked to on twitter which is a whole level of “wow…”
EDIT: So after digging in a bit more I love what they have done with Rory in combat