A classic rpg build, mixed with dating sim, and a giant cannon called a Reyvateil.
1.Do I enjoy anime art style used in games?
2.Do I consider character developement through talking, awkward and undesirable?
3.Have I played an rpg other than FFX, FFXII, or Legend of Zelda?
If you answered Yes, No, Yes, than this game is probably most certainly for you. I've read alot of reviews on this game, and each one seems very negative, not due to any hazardous play mechanics, just due to the dating sim portion of this game. If you're uninterested in character's growing and evolving as a game goes on, and prefer to just needlessly grind automatons, you should really not consider this as "for you".
The background concept of the game is rather good(generic, save the world stuff, but good) if you take out all the fancy words. Basically, there are humans, reyvateils, and "upper-world" humans. The upper-worlders are attacked by a virus, so they send the main character, Lyner, to go see what's going on and destroy the monsters invading the tower that the upper-worlder's live on.
The virus proves too strong and an item called the "Hymn crystal" is needed. So, after crashing his ship, and unable to return to the tower, Lyner begins exploring the world, and picking up various colorful characters to help him in his quest. Each character is actually well-rounded, and has a distinctive personality. They all have a well-founded reason to help, and don't just do the "follow-the-leader" syndrome that plagued FFXII.
The battle system is rather easy, basically you place your three 'fighters' in front of a magic-using Reyvateil. The singing reyvateil(this word is a pain to write :P) will "charge her lazor", gaining "song-power" in a large percentage which flies up over time. If you're a fan of DBZ, it's not unlike that, except for screaming you have singing. Meanwhile, at the frontline, you've got your three doods keeping the signer alive until at which point she either summons a giant fireball/monster/horrible things, and obliterates the surrounding country-side. The only problem to come out of this formula, is that it gets rather repetitive.
There are two simple cures for this repetition of "guard, sing, explode", the first is called the "hungry kitsune"(Named after the very first reyvateil)
Instead of song power, imagine the reyvateil eating various foods as fast as she can, than when she's full, Lyner hefts her over a shoulder, like a massive-loli-cannon, and squeezes her, expelling the contents in a horrible gout of firey expellings.
...
Or you can go the road more travelled and try the dating sim portion of the game. Honestly, I didn't mind going through the entire process, at times it seems awkward and you just want to crank down the volume on the tv, but other times it's heartwarming, and builds each reyvateil as being deep, three-dimensional, and intelligent, rather than food-driven maidens.(Although the secondary is much more amusing)
As you progress through the dating sim, the reyvateils will 'trust' you more and 'craft songs'. What does that mean to players? More variety of spells and better magic. Good times!
Of course if you detest any sort of character developement in your various rpgs you play between large binges of halo, just keep pushing the "X" button to skip through everything and have the tv on mute.
Oh and their's Grathmelding and such, which is item creation via "Pick up hoobajoob A and fleewakachu B and make SUPER BOMB C" they explain early on how to create and weild grathmelds, but it's not REALLY the highlight of the game in my opinion, it's done well, and works out great, but you can choose not to use it.
Gameplay: Very easy, and very rewarding. Same classic three-person setup of fighters, with an additional kick of the reyvateils(loli-cannons). Nothing extremely difficult, with some puzzles, but I've never hit a major problem.
Graphics: Absolutely beautiful characters and artwork. Even the small sprites are done well and seem emotional. Sadly, the background is somewhat mild, the 3d aspects could have been better. Sound: Lots of the music will stay in your head for days such as the "dive" themesong. The only really huge problem,(and it's huge) is the slap-in-the-face rap music they just threw in for a battle anthem. Like...honestly, what the flying heck. And it's not even good rap, it's this mumbled, terrible "tries to be rap" BAD GUST!
Value: Comes with an artbook(Read:Spoilers inside) and the game, and a wonderful giant case. Completely worth fifty dollars if you're into it, sucks loads if you're a brain-dead grinder.
Tilt: I'm a sucker for good rpgs, I've slaved through the horrible play mechanics of Vandal hearts two just to progress that story, but this game was really exceptional whereas I expected mediocre. It honestly does grow on you.