That doesn't tell me much about Roundscape, just the issue you have with Arenus. Like yes I agree with most the issues you have with the game, but I am still curious about Roundscape. Over the years, before and after engine change, my only experience with it has been completely broken piece of shit where events did not trigger correctly (if at all), everything being too disjointed due to sandbox design (as I wandered through large and practically empty maps), and the game just throwing rewards and story-threads at you for barely doing anything. What has changed and what is good about Roundscape now (and compared to Arenus).
What did I miss out with Roundscape as of recent years, was there a massive development post-covid that vastly improved the game? Does the game even have an ending yet? Is it, and more importantly WHY is it, worth trying it out now after all these years? Because if Roundscape, after all these years has genuinely improved, I'd love to give it another chance and hopefully not get burned like I've been over the years of trying to give it a fair chance.
To me (with Arenus) the gameplay loop is a massive improvement, with clear set of goals and interactions. Are there aspects I dislike about it, like the bar mini-game slowing down the process or say lack of a helpful marker to alert you of new scenes to save player time from checking every corner, sure. It's far from perfect and understandably even more frustrating having to lose progress starting new game due to version changes.
I also vastly prefer the combat system over the more basic rpgm system roundscape had (both due to how unit building works, and how the combat flows).
The variety of content you can do in Arenus, both in town and outside of town, helps break up the pace of train and get ready for arena fights. The arena fights themselves tend to be varied and the ability to re-challenge said bosses is a great and fun aspect.
The smaller scale, and having to actually slowly build yourself up, is more appealing to me as well. Having everything connected through the hub, rather than thrown around the world, is an improvement to me.