While interesting, charming, and addictive at first, this is another example of a GBA RPG that overstays its welcome.
I'm still a sucker for quirky Japanese RPGs and have been for a long time. When I saw the cover for Yggdra Union and read the reviews, I knew I had to get the game. I've been playing it in spurs for a while now, and tonight I officially quit, on Mission 32b out of 48 missions. Here's why.
At first, it's completely enthralling just how different this TRPG is compared to any other before (Fire Emblem, Front Mission, FF Tactics, Ogre Tactics, you name it) in that you select one card for the entire movement range of your team and the sole possible attack. I'll skip the details really; read Greg Kasavin's great review (as always) for a better description of the setup.
Here's why I stopped playing: it's too long. I've put 30 hours into this now, and the end still isn't near. To me, a GBA RPG should last at most 30 hours. I've barely completed Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation in around 50 hours, despite the repetitiveness and all. Now I'm done doing the same thing over and over in Yggdra Union for the benefit of a stupid story that is impossible to follow or take to heart.
Missions are often comprised of two, three, or even four or more sub-chapters! You think you've completed a mission but you have to keep trudging to really complete it. You aren't told how many sub-chapters a mission has, and if your guys are grossly out of position for the next sub-chapter, you may just have to start all over.
It was very fun for a while planning unions and witnessing the little battles, but enough is enough. The music is extremely redundant as well and the battles all play out the same after a while also. I've started this game after completing a second playthrough of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and it was obvious how poor the plot of Yggdra Union was built. You just go off fighting battles on top of battles against usually the same damn enemies all the time that keep retreating after getting beaten, and the convictions and purposes behind your actions are extremely weak and unbelievable.
In short, if you are hardcore about TRPGs and have the patience for over 40 hours of roughly the same stuff, this game can be strategically very satisfying. But after 30 hours, I've seen enough, as I've said many times.