Too many side quests and distractions from what is actually a decent story. I personally haven't done many of the quests in this game. If I see ! point on the way to and from, I will grab it, and if I have to kill enemies in the way of doing something else, I finish the quest, or if I need to turn in some items I already have, it gets finished, other than that I don't waste my time with these. I am trying to raise up Colony 6, which is the only part of the side quests I am doing. Only because it seems like something more worthwhile than a fetch quest.
I consistently stay over leveled at least 2 levels above, and I don't even stay around and grind, I just kill everything in the way. The only actual hard fights are a special monster you might come across that is 2 or 3 levels above you, other than that everything else gets pretty much bulldozed without even trying. Its a pretty easy game. I don't even use chain attacks, never really had to except to get extra heals in on a +2 special monster or something.
This game doesn't live up to the hype most people are giving it. I think its an average middle of the road RPG to be honest. Its not terrible, but its not that great either. If it wasn't for the story it would be a pretty terrible game. The battle system isn't very good, it screams MMORPG. Between the battle system and how many pointless fetch quests are in this game, it screams MMORPG, the only saving grace it has is the story.