Tales of the Tempest isn't as bad as they say. However, I can see why people rail on it so much.
Tales of the Tempest begins with our hero Caius, in a fight with his dad. In a huff and a puff, he walks out of the door and runs into a soldier. This soldier hands Caius a pendent and then dies. Before you know it, the city is attacked by the Holy Knights. Caius and his friend Rubia flee the city after the town is killed and Caius' dad is kidnapped. Caius and Rubia go on a journey to save his dad and discover what exactly the pendent is.
Due to the extremely short story, that's all I'm going to say. Graphically, the game is top notch. The only thing that could have used some work were the spells, but other wise the graphics are good. The soundtrack is one of my favorites as well.
Characters had little development due to the short story, but enough to make them enjoyable. Some of the villains are hard not to love while others make you enjoy fighting them. I wish whole heartedly that the game was longer to help bring out the wonderful character development.
Combat is same old. It's 3 on 4, with you having the 3. Battle also takes place on 3 lines. You can hit your opponent's on other lines, but it's easier to just switch manually. You can not switch between party members, but the Tactics are specific enough to make it all work out. You only have access to 4 artes at a time. Your team mates also only have access to 4 artes at a time and you have to set them up prior to battle. You can not switch equipment or artes after the battle has already started. Good news, TotT has one of the shortest Item recovery time out of all the Tales games. Also, Caius and Forest both have the ability to transform into werewolves. This is a separate arte that must be set prior to battle. There are no Hi-Ougi's (Mystic Artes).
Bosses are not that difficult. Spellcaster bosses guard like pros and are difficult to guard break. There are only 2 difficult bosses, the last boss and the mid-game boss. Otherwise, bosses are a breeze.
Time for some negatives. HUGE WORLD MAP. It's giant and enemy encounter rates are insane. On top of that, Holy Bottles only work for 2 minutes, battles included. Which sucks greatly. Also, you never get any sort of flying machine. You must always walk. There are a few port towns that you can sail between, but it costs a fair amount of gald to travel by boat. Lack of quality voice work is also a minus. I know I had something else, but I can't remember it at this point in time...>.>
All in all, Tales of the Tempest is a fun game that should keep people amused for about 15 hours. Do not go into TotT expecting it to be like Mothership Titles. If you do, it will ruin the experience.