This game is worth playing for new fans and veterans alike. Great for the DS library.
Story: 9.5/10
This story dragged me in so well... almost like a very high powered vacuum. Anyway, I loved the mystery surrounding the main character, Hero. No no, I'll backtrack a bit here. The opening cut scene already made me go "Wow, what the hell is going on?" Anybody who ever reads anything similar to that, is pretty well drawn in. Unless the cut scene sucks right? Anyway, the plot revolves around these books that Hero and his gang finds in these ruins in the beginning of the game. I won't spoil it but it pretty much revolves around these mysterious book objects. Anyway I think the only thing that strayed it away from a perfect score was the ending. It felt like "WOW, I was pulled in for this long and this is the outcome?!?" kind of feeling. People might feel differently about the ending. So be it.
Game play 8/10
Plays like a standard RPG. But the game in itself is too easy. My characters rarely die, even in a huge boss fight they don't really bite the dust. I love the system with the books and magic powers in association with them. They don't necessarily reinvent the wheel here but you have 103 characters to deal with. Some aren't necessarily real characters that you can fight with but rather assist characters. Some people in your party can help you gain more exp or 1 hit ko and more stuff to that extent. Of course, the 103 characters are a staple of this series and makes it fun to collect all of them. I had fun assembling 4 teams that actually worked together when i really had 2 primary teams. So it presented a bit of a challenge but not quite. Also, I liked how the traveling around the world works. But at the same time it be a little tedious to do the same thing over and over. Especially if I'm going from one end of the map to another to collect items or do a quest. The quest system is also a thumbs up for this game.
Graphics: 9/10
Nothing much to say except good job. I liked how the cut scenes panned out and everything else. The people who brought you this game really knew how to use the ds to its fullest potential... screen wise of course. I liked the mini world characters they had. If they had anything more it would look just weird. The cut scenes are very, very nice. Almost if I'm watching an anime....hey wait a minute!
Voice Acting: 4/10
*sigh* the voice acting killed it folks. Especially the main character. I think he tried to bring the hot headed character persona in but it just fell out badly. I wonder if the actor knew he was talking TOO FAST. There are some characters that kill it too... but you should find out for yourself.
Bottom line is that this game is very good. I think they could have nailed it down if it wasn't too easy. Of course, you also get an extra cut scene if you get all 103 people in the game. Good luck with that!