Best RPG the Wii offers to date!!
I chose wisely. I was sucked into this game. After more than 100 hours, I went ahead and finished the final fight. I prolonged this battle for a few reasons, mainly to have a real purpose in continuing to play.
I love the freedom this game grants you. You can grow numerous crops, each with their own season. When the season is up, those crops wither out. You can grow flowers/crystals that take a long time to harvest. Planting in the dungeons is the only way to get the longer time required crops to grow. Yo/u can use items grown/found/bought to craft/forge/cook/alchemy better tools/armor/weapons/medicines/foods. There is no tight timeline. I occassionally accomplished a task that triggered a cut scene and advanced the story. Each dungeon completed unlocks the next. Each dungeon has some mineable ores that are specific to that mine. The easiest has iron>copper, the next copper>silver, and so on up to platinum. Each dungeon also has a boss fight that can be refought multiple times with each attempt harder than the previous. Outside each bosses door, you can find a small amount of water. That, I found, is the best place to fish. The fish found there are more rare and of greater value. The social aspect of the game is also relevant. There are a dozen or so young ladies in town for you to woo.
I feel this is an excellent game and truly hope that we will have more in this series. I noticed the game has been bashed by a few for not imploring more motion controls, but I found it nice to have a game for my Wii that I could just sit and play....and play....and play....