@HarmlessSyan Yeah I started with 5 myself and Buster quests while an issue was addressed by the devs. Ep 4 replaced 1-3 as the entry point to the game so yeah the story was bad but that bad story was the first thing in front of new players to the game. The popular characters like mother didn't come in until the second half and since they release in chunks the horrible first half was all new players really knew. Though I can't remember how omnibus unlocked new players can swap to a newer episode. I beat ep 5 before i beat ep 4 for example though that also means I wasn't around for the hate just head people going on about 4. I'm sure episode 4 being an overhaul of things didn't help at all and I'm certain it will get hate when it launches especially the pedo parts which I'm hoping they'll change.
Personally I did enjoy the second half but I was highly critical as a person who played PSO 1&2 on the gamecube to come back to a series only to be smacked with amnesia and cringy anime cliches of teenagers hitting on what was essentially a child. All the while NPC talking about some epic adventure Phantasy Star like adventure you only get to hear about while your stuck in peeping tom jokes.