If you have a few hundred dollars to spare this game is great; but many things are left out for those who aren't rich.
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When this game first came out many people were excited that Final Fantasy had finally returned to a Nintendo System. However, Square pulled a traditional "Sony" move by making it so that to get the full effect of the game you will have to buy over two hundred dollars worth of equipment, including the $49.99 dollar game, just to play two player. Don't even get me started if you wanted to play with more people than that at a time.
Even when playing with two player one had to play the support person, carrying the chalice while the other had fun hacking and slashing their way through the game. In addition, without completely wasting space on your memory card the beginning town is completely empty, and even if you had two people or more playing the whole town would not be full without taking up space even with several memory cards, four controllers, four game boy systems, four cords, and setting up a time to play with your family members or friends. My own personal question to this is: "Why not just play a MMoRPG or Guild Wars where it would be cheaper entertainment for a month or two of playing time at your own liesure?"
Well, that may only apply to those who own a computer, but if one is reading this review online then I don't see what the problem is as there are even downloadable MMoRPGs that are free to play; though they are mainly just korean grinds (Not that there is anything wrong with those types of games if you're interested in them).
The battle system, to me, is reminiscent of some of the old Game Boy versions of Final Fantasy that are incredibly old; such games as Legendary Adventure and such. Though, that might of been the point of adding the game boy to the whole game play in addition to showing a new use of their technology. The music is awesome, the sound is great, the graphics are well implemented and the water is fantastic for the Game Cube. Though, in my opinion, they should have made it so you kept the moogle even if you had a second player; that way we both could have fun even though it supports teamwork. It may force proper team work, but it also produces occassional arguements that really aren't needed considering how much money was put into this one, short game that focuses on multiplayer.
In addition, they also seem to have held some back some content to those who do not have the ability to play the game in multiplayer; punishing them, as I mentioned earlier, but making them fill up memory cards just to access the beginning town's resources if someone else does not contribute a card or their character's family resources. Oh well, that's the break in new technology, I suppose - though I still say they could at least have given players a lively town without making 8 or so different characters.
It is far from being one of the best Final Fantasy games, and I personally prefer the old game boy versions to this one, but to each their own; I'm sure there are many who love this game and with good reason - the multiplayer is awesome if you have three or more people playing.
Also... There is a lack of chocobos in this game! :(