I just love how whenever a game dares have a leveling system that differs from the tried and true "fight, gain exp, level up, repeat until you're god" formula, its automatically sucks. Junction, Star Level, Sphere Grid, whatever. I'm sure I’ll be hearing the same thing about FF XII's License Board in a few months.
There's nothing wrong with CC's level system. Its just different. I actually found easier than most systems. Beat a boss, get a stat boost. What could be simpler?
Now the battle system...ugh. Its a water downed version of the one found in Xenogears, and not as versatile as what would be found later in Xenosaga (EP1 - you know, the one with the good battle system). If you want to complain about something, complain about that.