Mediocre compared to other games of the genre, but has some good qualities.
Graphics- I really like the graphics in this game, they are realistic and show warriors dressed in armor riding horses among other fantasy conventions. The backgrounds are really nice with lighting effects. The spell effects are fairly average but for a handheld they are nice. There is a very choppy framerate when the game shows a bird's eye view of the battlefield when starting a game. When taking a turn, the camera view changes and zooms in and out on the action which I have never seen in a strategy RPG before, seems like an effect used in sports games. It is a pleasing effect overall.
Sound- The music is from the movie, I didn't really notice the sound effects. It seemed solidly done though.
Gameplay- The combat system is surprisingly well done. I was not expecting to like a system where both sides move at the same time, I was expecting to move my characters and keep missing the enemy but due to the zone of control rule when two characters of opposing sides meet on the battlefield and stop moving it works ok. Also, almost every character in the game has a ranged attack so everyone can participate in the battle. There are not any really complex rules governing combat which I liked. The combat has a realistic and visceral feel about it which is enjoyable.
Items are very important in this game, the other army will use potions on themselves just when you are about to strike a death blow and heal themselves. I found the armor and healing potions to be the most useful and you cannot win unless you bring a large supply of potions into every battle. This costs gold which you earn by winning battles, even past battles that you have already won.
You can spend gold on skills for your heroes, but I found the skills to be kind of boring, and you can't choose which heroes to use in each battle which sucks. When your characters complete a battle it will tell you that they got their weapons upgraded but there are no actual weapons, just automatic stat increases.
Story- The story is the most disapointing thing about the game which provides little impetus to continue playing since I already know how the story ends because I have seen the movies. The decision to rehash the movies was probably done to show off the system's multimedia power and get people to buy UMDs but it doesn't make me want to play the game.
Value- I felt that at $49.95 this game was a little overpriced, but if you have enough disposable income to buy a PSP then I guess buying these games is no problem.
Overall- Compared to some of the great tactical RPG games I have played, this one is very shallow but has some lighthearted charm about it. I am not glad that I bought it and would not buy any sequels to this game unless I heard that it was a lot better. This game is just not a fully polished and developed product, it seems half baked from looking at the interface and some of the game mechanics. On the other hand, the game is actually a lot of fun and I could see some people wanting to play it, just don't expect a second coming of Final Fantasy Tactics in this product.