I'm almost 85 hours in. Some of the side mission stuff gets more interesting later on as you storm keeps and battle some tougher enemies. The one thing that annoys me is the way the main story line progresses. With every other mission you could abort and go back later if you are getting your butt kicked. Not the main stories as you stay locked in on autosaves. I know for an earlier one I had to go back and load an older save file. I have at least 4 save files for that reason. For this last story which was supposed to be level 12-15 I was getting my butt kicked. I have played on hard and when I'm at the top of the range the main stories are tough but doable. I was level 17 and my party members 16 and I had to drop down to normal to finish the Duchess. I may have not had the best mix of fighters but it was ridiculous.