Games like these make me wonder how Namco is still around.
First off, they tried to do what Capcom's Monster Hunter did. They stressed online play to the fullest, yet you couldn't even play online without going offline first and playing for a few hours. This game's offline mode is horrid, and plays just like the online mode. The only difference is that you unlock useless characters for the offline mode that you will only be able to use online. Each character is under-balanced and everyone uses the token character anyway. So it gets pretty bland when you go on a quest and everyone is using "Arc" while you're trying to use a cooler looking character like 'Volk'.
Graphically, this could have been better. When I fight a dragon on a PS2 game, I don't expect to see something that looks like a PSX sprite. I wish I was joking. I really do. The controls are mindlessly easy to master. Mash the attack button and pull out magic spells just as something gets up.
The only thing going for this game is the music. And even then, its not all that fantastic when compared to *other* online games.
Speaking of the online aspect... Its pretty horrid. When I came online a few months back, all people did was abuse a glitch to defeat me. Its call "bump-locking". Basically, you "shudder" when they dash at you. They attack/dash and you die because the lag time doesn't allow you to fight back. This forces everyone to use the "Shell" item. Ruining the "customize your character" idea that Namco put little to no effort to.
An even better example of online cheapness are the cable pullers. They pull out their connection, kill you (as you'll be standing still on their screen) plug it back in and you're dead.
Even fans of the series have told me that they hated this game. When that happens, you know something went wrong. And its a sad thing to see something with potential just flop because of lazy development. But in this day in ages, that's the case with most games anyway.
If for some reason you're interested in this game, rent it. Just don't come to me if you want your $5 back from the rental.