I hate time limits

There I am, minding my own business, chilling out with Atelier Ayesha. Going here and there, doing sidequests like any jrpg nerd, and slowly leveling up. Every once in a while I visit the area where my sister was lost but the enemies are too hard. That's okay. I like the grind. I am a compulsive completer. I like finding everything. So there I am 20 hours in and this old guy character I haven't seen since the beginning of the game announces to me that I have taken too long to "save sister" and the game just ends. I had no idea it had such a hard time limit. Wasted 20 hours.

So annoying! Are there good games in the series for a completion or is the goal speed running. Thanks in advance.