I feel like a lot of things ruined the game for me, though a lot of it is my own fault. I finished rebuilding Norende in like Chapter 2 because I used a MAC cycler and a home streetpass point. The weapons you get from it are not only way overpowered for the time you get them, but they force you into certain jobs and builds to best exploit them and made me obsessed with earning money, which funneled me even further toward a specific team makeup. I also had my encounter rate set at +100% the entire time, since I'm playing on Hard and was concerned about levels. I'm currently level 70 at the beginning of chapter 4, which based on how long I recently learned the game is, is a bit overleveled. I also have every available job up to level 9 or higher.
I almost want to restart the game and play it "right", completely ignoring all the game breaking social stuff and building teams in a way that actually makes sense rather than building teams so that I can set battles to auto and still get four Thief's Blade muggings, unscathed, and one-turn victory while carrying as many caster jobs to level as I can manage given the area. This was its own sort of fun, but not that fun to actually play.
Also, I was pretty worried that the general was going to use the "Sarin Sample" after I got it.