Octopath 1 and 2 both have this issue regarding their structure.
When every character's story needs to function independently of everyone else and have the same number of bosses and chapters and similar amounts of dialog and limited resources to do it because you have to make 8 of these scenarios so of course they aren't distinct, what you end up with is a just okay JRPG that's mechanically satisfying but narratively has no punch to it.
2's finale sequence does try harder but it's just not enough.
I'd say you should just play the Bravely series instead but 1 has some serious padding issues, Second is underwhelming, and 2 is borderline bad.
I'm hoping Expedition 33 stokes some more interest in turn based battling, whether in indie, AA or AAA spaces.
Oh and Partitio's theme slaps
https://youtu.be/23F7lA8jbTE