I had just started a bit into chapter 10 last night after finishing 9 and I was feeling rather sleepy into 9 (both due to the game and just due to general end of day/night fatigue) and while the story is rather rushed and badly paced as everyone has stated, the visuals and music reach even greater heights at that point. Too bad it's at the expense of a trade off rather than further overall game enrichment tho.
I must say, at the end of chapter 9 and opening of chapter 10, really makes fine use of HDR for certain. Like, I've been here or there about it in the few games I've played that have it and tho FFXV has it noticeably throughout the game, it stands out in scenes where I'm at right now for sure. shyt is like in-store demo material and beyond from leading up to the boss fight and just after it. I'm not a full-fledged graphic whore, especially at the expense of gameplay, but shyt right here...my god, is visual euphoria.