As others have said, the story really does pick up in HW, and you’re almost there. But the msq is always dialogue/cutscene -> go to a place -> do a small task -> dialogue/cutscene and repeat until you get to a solo instance/trial/dungeon. This never changes. If you don’t want to put up with that, a story skip may actually be for you. Especially if you have been trying for years.

It’s not something I typically recommend for first time players, but with New Game + and videos available, it’s not like you have absolutely no way of experiencing the story on your own time.

If you do go that route, just keep in mind that a story skip doesn’t increase your level, so you’ll need a level skip as well to do content in ShB right away if you don’t want to take the time to grind from 50ish through 70.