This game deserves a sequal or ten! If you are a fan of Final Fantasy this is almost the same but with some ideas added
That is literally what it is from a gaming perspective. Final Fantasy.
The gameplay is nigh identical. The same turn based combat where you can either attack normally, use an item or cast a spell and exactly the same exploration system where you walk around a map as your main character exploring whilst dealing with the constant (and sometimes rather frustrating) random encounters.
So what is different? Other than the storyline and setting (which I personally love!!!) you get to not only own and control a couple of ships for exploration, you actually get to use the flying ships for combat. This brings a whole new level of fun to the game in my opinion, and could almost be a game in itself. As you progress through the game you buy upgrades for your vessel, from guns, to rockets, to better engines, to the special super weapon on the prow.
You not only get to control these ships, but you can walk around inside them and talk to your crew etc etc. For the age of the game, everything has a great amount of detail and you can tell a long time has been spent on making everything great.
Later on you get to build your own base which has a level of customisation which is both pretty huge and nice looking as well.
The storyline will keep you compelled from start to finish. There are some great spin-off quests you can try and do, and there is loads and I mean LOADS of exploring to do, as well as things that only appear at certain times of day etc.
This, accompanied by a huge and interesting storyline and uplifting musical score make this a 10/10 for me
I am not sure why gamespot decided to give only 7.5 to such a great game of it's time. I can only assume the reviewer wasn't much of a fan of RPGs!