Rune Factory 5 problems

Finally got around to starting Rune Factory 5 (I’ve had it installed for months) and I’m super disappointed. I knew there was some buzz around the game being not as good as RF4, but I’m shocked by how bad it really is. It’s like they made the decision to transition a game into 3d/open world to compete with similar titles, but took no time considering how the functionality of the series would lend itself to such a massive shift.

I’m going to keep playing for a few more hours, but I’m really disappointed. RF4 is one of my favorite games of all time, and I was really looking forward to this.

Has anyone else played RF5 and felt similarly? Does it get better?