Don't play it for the game- play it for the story.
Unfortunately, once I got my hands on the game, it became quite obvious what its problems were. It was holding my hand and dragging me through the painfully linear storyline, but it wasn't leading as far as telling me where I could actually FIND things. So I was left to wander aimlessly a few times (the pitfall of adventure games is leaving you to wander or poke aimlessly around a room hoping to find that one, useless piece of dialogue that your character needs to deliver before you can move on) and I have to say I didn't appreciate it.
Ethen Kairos is also a massive idiot, as GameSpot's review dictates- as he sits there doing his own version of problem-solving, I'm on the other side of the DS, feeling angry that I've got 20 minutes of gameplay to get through to perform a task that I know will be pointless. But the Shenmue series prepared me for that eventuality, too.
So- I have the patience to get past the pitfalls of this game, and good lord, am I glad I did.
The story in this game is single handedly one of the most ambitious, engaging, and original tales I have ever encountered in my years of gaming. No matter who you are, you need to experience the story, because it's just such a great piece of work. Sure, the gameplay was losing me- but the game is so short, and the characters so compelling, that I actually ended up enjoying it far more than much longer and more thought out RPGs and Adventure games, no matter how much I liked the gameplay. (Grandia, I am looking STRAIGHT AT YOU.)
In the end, for me, so long as the gameplay isn't straight up broken, adventure games are all about the story. And this one, in that respect, didn't disappoint- it exceeded all expectations.
Please, please play this game, if you've got any patience at all.