When reviewed on nothing except its own merit, the game is great.
With all these changes it should seem pretty clear that I prefer the first two games. Well, I don't. I played this game before the other two, and I enjoyed it more. Unlike many of the disappointed players that have scored this game low, I did not come in with any preconceived notions of what this game should be. Taken on its own merit, this game is great. The battle system shines, the script is hilarious, and the game manages to be more than the sum of its parts. In short, It is just fun to play.
I suppose I should break it down now huh?
Game play- This battle system is what Legend of Dragoon's battle system wishes it was. The judgment ring has a spinner that you must time correctly to do anything in battle. This means attacking, items, spells, etc. The judgment ring is customizable, so if you want to make it very difficult, you get rewarded with more damaging attacks. If you don't have a good sense of timing you can make the ring easier, but you will have weaker attacks. Overall, it kept battles interesting, which is very important for any RPG. Another aspect is that each character has "insanity points." If these run out then the character goes berserk and just starts attacking everything. This stops players from dragging out battles for too long, or using fusions to much.
Fusions? Oh yeah, one of your characters can merge with a monster to become more powerful at the cost of precious insanity points. This brings another strategic aspect to the game.
Outside of battle this game plays much like other JRPGs. There is a text based world map, so the amount of exploration is minimal.
Story- Blah. If you have played an RPG you have heard this story before. Oh NO the world is going to end! But the main character is personally connected to this disaster!!! whatever shall we do? The saving grace here is that there is plenty of humor to keep you interested. Most people, including myself, will miss many of the jokes because they are so subtle, but when I caught the jokes, I literally laughed out loud. I have only done that for 3 video games in my whole life, so take that for what its worth.
Graphics- It is a PS2 game. It is good for the PS2, but if graphics are the reason you want to play this game, go pick up your PS3/360 controller and play something else. We don't want you here.
Sound- Strikingly uninspired.
Value- Here is the key. I can't tell you why I liked this game so much. It just worked. Everything fit together and made me want to come back and play this game. When I got the game I could only play it every other weekend, and it had to compete for play time with Final Fantasy XII. Although FFXII is better in all aspects except humor, this game won the battle for play time. It is just a fun game, and in the end isn't that what matters?