Yuri is indeed a really cool and unique MC - especially in a genre as boring goody two-shoes MC saturated as JRPGs (look at Alphen from Arise) - but my man is pretty much a static character from start to end. Lloyd from Symphonia absolutely clears him in that regard. Several plot threads that seem integral to everything in act 1 and 2 never get addressed in act 3 leading to a broad thematic disconnect across the story. Everybody ends up sweeping Yuri's actions under the rug like they never happened. As for the combat, consensus seems to be it gets much better later in the game but I was already pretty done with it halfway through, couldn't care one whit about chaining base to arcane to altered artes whatever. There's no additional depth to be found in hard difficulty over normal or easy, just more tedium. Never would've guessed I'd end up liking Arise slightly more than Vesperia

ALL side content completed by following this guide https://web.archive.org/web/20190617210827/https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/241054-tales-of-vesperia-definitive-edition/faqs/76752/introduction

Party tier list (raw likeability + quality of growth as people):
S: Karol, Rita (please stop whacking Karol so much though)
A: Yuri, Estelle
B: Raven, Flynn, Judith (hot booba)
C: Patty (she felt so awkwardly forced in, and considering she wasn't in the original game it's obvious why)
Dog: Repede (at least he gets the Jojo DLC skin, plus dat pipe)