Don't let me dissuade you from playing it. In terms of likability, really one character really stands out because he's basically the "I'm out for revenge and F this team I don't care about you just let me get my revenge" trope and he basically doesn't change until literally the last possible moment which does nothing to make me like him as a character.
The battle system is fun and interesting, but it's not without its flaws, of course.
As for the backtracking, yes there is a lot of it, but you can do save point warping like in Xillia, if you've played that. You can warp from every save point, but it costs money to do it, and depending on where you are in the story, you may not be able to go to certain areas you've already been to.
The soundtrack is great! The opening theme is very popular. Very catchy. Great music all throughout.
There's currently a free DLC that takes place after the main story, so that's pretty cool.
All in all, if you're looking for a Tales fix then I think Zestiria will do you right.
