A Great RPG that Would've Been Perfect Had it Not Been For Its Rather Extreme Difficulty
STORY: The plotline is pretty complex, though it may seem simple at first. The story's ability to pull the player in is amazing to say the least. 9/10
GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is of your standard RPG: Explore an overworld, run into random encounters, level up, etc. except that battle is not turn-based but is rather an Active Time Battle system. Needless to say, its solid, and is quite addicting. 8/10
DIFFICULTY: The only major gripe about the gameplay is its difficulty. While masters of RPG's may find it perfect, others like me find it pretty hard. Extreme, even, especially in further courses of the story. Gone is the usual hit-n-heal procedure and in are the strategies that involve certain spell-casting at the right time. It wouldn't be such a pain if there were a bit more save points, though luckily there are quite a few and MOST are at a good place. Still, the difficulty could have been turned down a notch to make it more playable. 6/10
GRAPHICS: The graphics are in 3D, reminiscent to those on N64. They're pretty good for a handheld, but not exactly amazing. 8/10
MUSIC: There are quite a bit of memorable pieces within this game, and being composed by Square's Nobuo Uematsu, its no wonder that its really excellent. 10/10
All in all, this is a game worth playing at the very least. However, if you are easily frustrated or just don't like games with high difficulties, you should just turn away. Perhaps the VC version is easier?