I played the game last weekend (got both Wii U and 3DS version, it's so great that you can continue your save on the run too) and I'm having so much fun with it!
I hadn't played Tri in a very long time, so I had to do some relearning about the basic stuff. Now I have almost completed all the *** - star quests in single-player mode.
Somehow I feel that this game is easier than Tri was. I remember that I use to have so much trouble taking e.g. Barroth down, but now I can beat him just fine. I have been doing some grinding and upgrading my weapons and armors, so maybe it's just that. I've been using the lance.
So far this game haven't had any of those subquests that Tri had. You only have one objective per quest. I wonder why they decided to drop them.