I have enjoyed all the previous games from you and by no surprise I have enjoyed the initial part we get to play here. Love that you are expanding on animations and can't wait to see what else is in store.
As far as the game goes I still just don't care to interact with the ship battles. They don't feel rewarding, and are a slog to do. If the first game is anything to go by I'll find the shop that lets me upgrade past the relevance of the battles and try to speed through them. This is just a personnel preference thing for me, but maybe other feel the same.