An excellent idea marred by what feels like a rushed execution.
From top to bottom, there are so many things that almost work here that it just becomes very disappointing that none of them really do. The plot is presented excellently initially--a tale of espionage, betrayal and romance--but ultimately becomes convoluted w/ many necessary elements glossed over. The plot relevant shoot-em-up levels are great fun the the random encounters eventually become repetitive and boring. There graphics are nice but the big sprites mean not much of the over-world map is shown at one time, which makes traveling needlessly confusing. The music is wonderful and the sound design is nice but you notice little details like the footstep sounds don't quite mesh w/ the animation from time to time. All in all, everything is just almost there.
I realize the overall tone of this review is negative but this really is quite a good game. It is just hard to ignore that it could be so much better if some major and minor details were paid attention
to that it gets very frustrating. I am a fan of both genres presented here and I kept finding myself wondering, "How is this game not completely awesome?" It should be and almost is but it's not.