Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - opinions?

Was looking at this PS3 game. The Studio Ghibli animation intrigues me. Anyone played it?

+The story and Ghibli cut scenes are all really fucking cool
+The familiar (think pokemon but Ghibli) system can be done with pretty much no thought or you can sperg out and min/max specialize
+/- It is a JRPG so you're gonna grind at points
-Pacing could be slightly faster

I bought this game when it was $20 on Amazon because of all the hype.

I was disappointed. I was hoping for a kind of Chrono Trigger experience but this game didn't do it for me. I understand the charms of the game, but after 30 hours I realize I'm not a fan of the art style or gameplay. The fighting sequences are neither turn based or real time which can makes for some very frustrating experiences when you are controlling 3 characters. This game strangely feels like it overwhelms you with too much, but at the same time underwhelms with not enough. I can't even explain it.

I would play it to the end but I'm at a spot where I can't beat a guy unless I level up 10 levels or so and I can't bring myself to grind that out. I regret purchasing this game.