I've made it through Birth By Sleep. I really didn't enjoy actually playing through it. In fact, I'd say only Chain of Memories managed to be a smidge worse from the titles I've played and I'm not even sure there. I had my moments with it though and though the main cast fell short on execution, I was
alright with the overall story.
Thanks for the tips, all! I was able to manage Royal Radiance + Mysterious Figure and Vanitas R. on Critical with fair, but not extraneous in-the-moment efforts. Cartwheel spam is amazingly advantageous.
Hot Tip: I should have taken badcrumble's advice and played on Proud instead of Critical. The damage scale simply made each campaign a drag for the beginning hours and with how measly each campaign is in length, the effort to even level abilities feels meaningless for everyone sans Aqua. It wouldn't have fixed my issues with the game, but Critical did not help.
Well, I can move onto 2.8 with a clear head now. After watching through the Re:Coded movie, that is.
Seeker Mines are usual against Vanitas (among several other things).
Thanks Seda! Ended up using Mine Square against him for the perimeter, but certainly used Seeker Mines in a bunch of other places.