Started Atelier Shallie, I just don't get how this game operates.
This is my 13th Atelier game, I am 4 chapters in and I only feel confusion so far, mainly progression related.
Leveling up feels incredibly poorly thought out, battles by themselves don't give you jack but if you finish some random tasks that you triggered by randomly doing a random thing, all of a sudden you get a bunch of exp in the next fight.
Synthesizing also seems so limited to the point where I truly feel like I should make a bunch of throwaway items just to level up and unlock perks which are actually worth something.
And then there's story progression itself, I don't even know what I am doing or if I am doing it right. There's obviously main tasks but sometimes I level up motivation meter without finishing these and then get a message that tells me to do better. But I literally can't because all the tasks are locked out once the meter is full, what's the catch here, seriously? In pause menu there's also some meter between good and bad, I am usually at the middle, falling down to bad as I gather and fight and I have no idea what this is or if it does anything at all.
Can anyone throw me a hand here, I truly feel lost with this one, I have no idea what I should prioritize.