Thanks for the help guys, good to know that I can't miss anything. Also I went with male and doing the training 1 star quests now (so many x_x).
Currently not liking the lance very much, but I think I need to get a hang of aiming my lunges (is there a lock-on in this game? In the intro it said I can L to lock-on but now it opens my inventory o.o) but the dash attack is quite fun!
The 1 star training quests are optional but a VERY good way to find out what weapon is for you.
You can sort of lock on to large monsters, hit the icon of the monster on the bottom screen then tapping L will snap the camera to it. Otherwise tapping L just centers the camera behind your character by default.
Remember to just tap it, holding it down is what lets you adjust your active inventory item/ammo.