i also came in here to talk about Chained Echoes, the first hour of which i played last night. that progression element which you describe, Tradeghouls 'n ghosts, never occurred to me, i must admit. but you do raise a good point.
i have to say, though, that i thoroughly enjoyed that first hour. normally, i play 30-60ish minutes of a game at a time, and rarely do i feel the urge to play more in a single sitting. with Chained Echoes, i wanted to play more (but stopped because i am a tired old man).
the art and music are indeed nostalgic while also being forward-looking. the writing is decent enough, though a little stilted in places. but the gameplay is just so snappy. running around the environments feels good, opening treasure boxes feels rewarding. more than anything else, though, the battle system is fun and engaging, almost from the get-go. it may not do long-term progression well, but the moment-to-moment action in battle is exciting, which is high praise for a JRPG. i’m into it!