TBH I probably could've forgiven the story that made me cringe in Rogue Galaxy if the combat wasn't so slow. Random battles suck, first off, since you can't avoid wasting time with them if you don't feel like fighting. Next you're fighting like 3-4 different guys rather than 1-2 at a time, which makes things slower as you kill them all. Finally the AI companions... well I'm just not fond of AI companions in general. It just seemed wholly a step down from DC 1/2's dungeon crawls.
And like I said I only played the first hour or so. The main character guy, whom I (again) wanted to punch in the face, just left the planet when I turned it off. Maybe he grows out of his idiocy. I somewhat doubt it after Max just got more annoying and stupid as his game progressed, though. Once Desert Claw (or whatever the big shot bounty hunter's name was) said "that kid may have more potential than me!" I knew exactly where the story was heading and wanted no part of it.
I haven't played a Level 5 game except those three (dark cloud 1 and 2, and rogue galaxy), but so far the best protagonist in a game of theirs was the silent one. From Dark Cloud 1. He didn't have a chance to spout his boyish dreams of adventure and fantasy (retch), nor did other people go on about how awesome he was (double retch). He didn't have a personality to speak of, either, but that's way better than Max's or Jaster's. Dark Cloud 1 also had by far the worst gameplay decisions though (thirst and weapon breaking are like, totally good ideas. Right).
Obviously most my ire is directed against Dark Cloud 2's story/protagonist and what I think Jaster will end up like. If you tell me I'm wrong, that Jaster doesn't become a super bounty hunter dude, that the other characters don't universally praise him even when acting retarded (remember Max's tantrum when he finally met mommy?), that the universe doesn't bend around his desire for adventure and to give him absolutely zero negative consequences for his actions (or if there are negative consequences, a way to blame them on someone else), that he isn't the pinnacle of virtue and goodness, that his decisions and aren't always right, then I'll pick up Rogue Galaxy again. Frankly I just can't stomach another wish fulfillment story where a young kid picks up a weapon and goes monster slaying and saving the world without any hint of consequences or repercussions. Where all the bad stuff in the world is other people's faults and the kid's there to solve problems through beating thing's skulls in. I've had quite enough of that after Dark Cloud 2.... and I still want to play it again. Why'd they have to make the gameplay and non-protagonist characters so good?