The crafting system is actually pretty bare-bones, at this point in the game, at least...maybe it opens up & gets more in-depth as the game progresses. This is certainly possible since I'm still relatively early in the game. At the moment, it's a pretty basic & generic form of adding materials to make a weapon into the same weapon "+1" then using the "+1" weapon w/ more materials to make it into the "+2" version, etc.
There's also a (very) small # of skills (basically, passive abilities/gambits) to be crafted.
Crafting materials aren't at all abundant, either. It seems like killing mobs only nets you HP & MP-restoring items + a paltry amount of money...Lack of money & crafting materials are both pretty frustrating inconveniences, thus far and - from what I'm seeing, the only reliable way of obtaining crafting items is by going out of your way to find & bust open any treasure chests on the battle maps. This, however, is also a bit of a pain in the ass because, these chests are...w/o fail - not only always located in the farthest part of the map from your starting point -but- they're also almost always hidden in out of the way places with terrain, alleys, gaps, caves, etc blocking your view/line-of-sight of them.
Get in the habit of well, 1st - in the options menu, set your vertical & horizontal X & Y axis' to the way that you like them...then, make a habit of (as soon as the fight begins) -
* pressing START, to open up one of the menus, then
* selecting the "MAP" option.
This will bring up an overhead view of the entire map where you can locate & identify the locations of the chests by little treasure chest pics/icons...or, you can just always head for the farthest & most inconvenient reaches of each map to the same effect
Btw, do you know what all does and doesn't carry over to NG+?
This is info I haven't come across anywhere & that I'd really like to see & know!
Have you come across any FAQs for the game yet?
I went into the game (and I'm still playing it) 'blind'...which both adds to & detracts from different aspects of the game.
I've got nothing for ya on that other thing though, because - I don't follow or subscribe to well...anyone or anything and I've never seen anyone that stands out as so good at ____, that I watch/read them enough to have ever cared enough about and/or been invested enough in anyone to let anything that they could ever do or say bother me or affect me in any other way either.
That said, I sometimes get annoyed by (and question people's intelligence & comprehension levels:) when I see the use of "RPG game", myself!