There is no data inransfer into #4, but then again, it would be difficult to figure out a convincing reason to have it, as there's little relation to the previous stories and few returning characters.
Anyway, I'm about 15 hours in and from what I believe, about 2/3 of the way through. The encounter rate is a little high, but not consistently so. The quickness of the battle system helps in this department though. The character voices are mostly good, though a few are rather irritating. You can turn down the voice volume separately though if you don't want to hear them. My only real complaints are the huge swaths of ocean you have to sail (slowly) across to go between the islands, docking at a port is an unforgivingly precise task, and the cutscenes are interrupted at times, but otherwise, I'm enjoying it.