I much prefer the current chain system. It works fine for me.
In fact, I hate formations. Feels like robots, not people. More like a board game than an rpg.
To be honest, I don't like formations too but still, the chain system is just terrible. If I was forced to pick one, formations all the way, just so I can select my party members by drag'n drop.
It would be nice if you can just drag and drop to select your party members and, once that is done, the camera centers the character corresponding to the first portrait of your party.
This way you can select characters via drag'n drop and have the "chatter" or the "thank" be the first in line while the rest of them follows.
