"The Way" a must for RPG fans

Keep in mind that I haven't played it for years and I prefer to block things I despise out of my mind.

Pros-
The sword growth gameplay system appeared to be interesting. I say appeared because I spent 4 'games' waiting for it to actually become interesting and it never did.

The plunge system, while mechanically stilted seemed like it would prove fun. Specifically I think I would have really enjoyed the plunge tournament, but when I quit plunge was still mostly a slog.

No random battles/controlled level up process ensured (supposedly) that the game would be at a consistent challenging difficulty level.

Passes-
The graphics and sound are ripped from other games. I don't have a problem with this and it's completely par for the course with RPG maker games. Although the big open level was a real abuse of that one ff6 tile set.

This game has that generic good/bad choices determine the ending thing. Pretty much before anyone else did it. I don't care for this, but I understand that some people like it.

The game is ultimately quite linear. It produces a pretty hostile feeling when combined with the fact that you have to complete every task to gain the level up items you need. I don't have much of a problem with linearity in RPGs, but it feels like it negates the need not to grind with the fact that you can't compensate for losses by going back to redo something.

Nothing really stood out to me about normal combat, but it wasn't awful either. Just normal levels of repitition.

Cons-
(I really feel like The Way chose all the things I dislike most about Final Fantasy games and smooshed them together into a big ball of hate.)

The main character is basically a massive sociopath when he's not busy being cliche (i.e. amnesia). The world, plot, and gameplay mechanics strongly reinforce the fact that the main character (who I despise) is the ONLY important character.

I hate minigames. They are a waste of time that distracts from the interesting gameplay (of any good RPG). This game is crammed full of them, and the rewards for success are level up items. The same level up items which are completely limited, so if you do not beat them you cannot maximize your' character. (My understanding is that if you turn the minigames off it is impossible to get one of the endings due to reduced character strength.

The plot of the first four games is completely bland and every time it offers a hint of something interesting it rips it away from you before you can pursue the plot thread.
This makes pacing feel abysmal. And honestly when the scene where I flee from a group of people lasts an hour it makes me think the author didn't understand anything about pacing in the first place.

Apparently the game is supposed to involve some sort of elaborate metaphor for Budhism but this doesn't seem to pan out at all either. If there is a Buddhist metaphor in this game it feels like it must have been written by some teenager who once read a book about the subject. Games that pretend to be meaningful but aren't really piss me off. Of course, this claim could just be a wordplay joke about the game's name.

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In conclusion, there's a lot for me to hate in this game, and a long time for me to hate all of those things, and every single thing this game tries to do right it manages to fuck up completely.