Couldn't put it down.
The combat is the most notable aspect of the game. The top screen displays one character controlled by the D-pad and face buttons, while the bottom screen displays Neku, who is controlled by the touch screen. Although the control scheme is a bit intimidating at first, it becomes very easy and enjoyable to control after a while. The enemies move and attack on separate screens, but they are the same enemies, so killing one on the bottom screen kills it on the top screen as well. The controls on the top screen are controlled by touching either the d-pad or the face button that corresponds to where the enemy is, if he is to your left than press left or x, to the right you press right or a. The touch screen is the most fun though because you use pins by scratching, swiping, dragging, pressing, or poking at the enemies to unleash attacks. This is a remarkably innovative system that works very well. However, during that later levels when the enemies become harder, I found myself focusing only on the bottom screen and leaving the top screen player to either fend for himself or to just keep pressing random buttons to attack. The game fixes this problem, howver, because if you leave the top player idle for several seconds the game will take over control and let him keep himself alive.
The sound sounds very nice for the DS, the combat tunes are very well done and work well during battle. However, the music in the map mode becomes very repetitive and even annoying. For all the effort they put into making the game play so well you'd expect they'd at least put in a few more songs for the map mode, this is a small complaint though when you consider how well done the rest of the game is.
The graphics are nothing to write home about but then again this IS the DS so its completely reasonable. Im actually glad that they didnt try to bring it into the 3D universe because the majority of the games that do often end up ruining the experience IMO.
The story is very deep and engrossing and I found myself playing it for hours upon hours just hypnotized by the story mode. But hey, I'm not everyone, and I truly enjoy games with long winded cutscenes like xenosaga, but if thats not your forte then prepared to be turned off. Many of the boss battles take place after long conversations that are meant to bring you into the game, and it works well...the first time, but after that, if you die in the battle, you need to scroll through the entire conversation again until you reach the battle. There's no way to make it run faster or to skip through all while listening to that same map song thats become nearly insufferable by this time. This flaw is eventually fixed though when you receive an item that lets you continue from that battle you died on, and even lets you try it on easy if you want, for those times when you get really frustrated.
In the end the game is extremely rewarding and definately worth its $40 price tag. If you like RPG's, the DS, or you just like orange spikey hair for some reason or another, this game is a must-have.