Overall a fun RPG, different but good, but the high encounter rate may scare some away. Integrates well with the sequel.
The gameplay is not the common RPG stuff. Not only do you get to eat monsters, turns aren't determined by agility. This requires you to think more and remember what monster has what elemental weakness so you can not only kill it before it attacks, but also get more money. However I found the encounter rate to be a little bit on the high side most of the time, which really annoyed me because healing points are few and far between. This means that you have to sort of camp them and level before starting the dungeon. If you just go through it like I did you will get frustrated really quickly and end up running from most battles.
The graphics are nice and cell-shaded, though somewhat dreary. However I played it on a 46" LCD tv with monster cables attached, and that's where it really shines. All the colors are nice and crisp, no blending or anything. However I did play it on an older tv with normal cables and then it is not so pretty at all. It fact its rather dull and everything seems as if its just variations of one color. If you have a good tv than you're in for a treat, otherwise, it's still a good game.
The sound is alright. Overall is a lot of electric guitars and the like, similar to the music in Dynasty Warriors. Not bad overall but theres not much to describe. However Sera's piano theme, or whatever it is, is a beautifully composed piece that I really enjoyed listening to. Otherwise there's no really catchy pieces.
Overall I would say this is a great game, and I still play it. If you own a copy that's awesome, they're a little rare now so good luck finding one. It's a treasure to own, especially when you play the second one and plot events are revealed. This causes everything in the first one to make sense, and gives you the feeling of a really well thought out RPG.