[FF16] Does it get more interesting?

I’m more than 15+ hours in so far (a certain cigarette smoking ally has already died) and I’m just wondering if it gets any more interesting than this? So far all the combat has played out pretty much identically — spam basic attack and cycle through special abilities until the enemy staggers and dies — and I’ve been collecting loot for 16 hours and literally haven’t acquired a single item from a treasure chest, a boss, or a quest that is better than my starting “Onion Sword.” I’m used to past FF games that let you upgrade your gear and dangle tantalizing special equipment and powers in front of you (my favorite FF by far is FFIX) so I’m mostly just confused at the bland, straight-forward nature of this game so far. The graphics are pretty but the boss fights always seem to end with like 2 full minutes of cutscenes masquerading as gameplay, during which the boss’s remaining health bar gets depleted as a scripted event. Is this what the entire rest of the game is like? I miss finding cool loot and fighting optional enemies that actually have an effect on your character’s progression….