Engaging story, amazing visuals, awesome soundtrack, and humorous dialogue fuse to make a truly memorable game.
The story does take a little bit to get used to, but rather quickly I was fully immersed in it and enjoyed it thoroughly. And the story is very long, which I like. It WILL take you more than 30 h to beat. Unlike some people, I never got bored. The story always kept me hooked into completing the next task. Issun, the little dude that is almost always with you, is funny and keeps things interesting. I like how they made him a womanizing egotistical man at like an inch tall. Even though combat is pretty much always the same (trapped in that weird demon-scroll dimension), they are always fun, especially when you gain the ability to steal things from your enemies.
The audio/visual of the game is also amazing. The Wii doesn't excel graphics-wise, but the beautiful watercolor look of the game is unique enough to rival many cutting-edge games for PS3 and 360. The sounds are also superb. I really enjoyed the music, which for me is a big part in determining the quality of the game.
The brush really adds to the game as well. At first I didn't like the idea of using it for combat, but eventually it becomes really fun. Sometimes it's difficult to properly draw a certain symbol (straight lines are hard with the Wii-more) but you can easily just try it a second time.
The game is not without minor problems however. First, the brush works most of the time without flaw but occasionally it doesn't register your designs properly. You sort of have to learn how to draw symbols so that the game will understand. Also, the game is ridiculously easy. I never died besides falling off cliffs, and when you do, it just takes away one health notch and puts you back where you originally fell. You can carry a large supply of "health packs" with you (along with other power-ups), so even if an enemy is severely damaging you (which is rare), you can always heal. I was pretty much never concerned about dying, and I never even needed the "astral pouch." But, I think the fact that I was hooked on the game for 40 h despite it being one of the easiest games I've ever played is a testament to how fun it truly is. Finally, some dialogue scenes don't let you fast-forward the text scroll speed. Most of the time, you can hold down A and it puts all the text on screen right away, so you can quickly read and move on to the next sentence. However, some scenes make you wait, which is a minor annoyance, especially for someone who reads fast.
So, in short, buy this game. You'll definitely like it if you like adventure games with a bit of RPG-elements thrown-in. If you're unsure, rent it first, but you'll never be able to finish it before it's due back.