A lengthy, unpretentious strategy RPG pushed higher by the gorgeous character design and OST.
What is good about this game?
-The CGs are gorgeous, if you're into that style. Hirano Katsuyuki really outdid himself on the character design.
-The voice acting, if you have at least minute understanding of Japanese, really adds to the experience. Kana Ueda does a beautiful job as Ellis, and so does Tomizawa Michie as Vira-Lorr. It's not an all star cast, but many of the names unheard of are actually the best voices in the game.
-The gameplay is complex and interesting. Those who liked other IF and Compa titles will understand this: they really spin the concept of Tactical RPG in a whole new way, and, it was, to me at least, very enjoyable.
-The length and vastness of it all, in general. From the sheer quantity of skills and combined skills and special skills and combined special skills (all with their own combat animation), humongous quantity of items (who all have a little illustration), the huge cast where every character feels like it's part of the story and not just a random henchman with a name, the sheer LENGTH of it all, with the 5 generations, the alchemy and enhancing content, optional dungeons, capturable and fusionable monsters... If you want to do it all, it might take forever.
-The OST. Not all tracks are memorable but a good quantity are and those that are are really amazing. Kenji Kaneko, you need more exposure man, because you do a damned good job.
-The concept of playing your offspring in the following part of the game, and then again, and then again. 5 generations? Awesome. I was afraid they would underdo it and only have 2-3 generations but this truly plays the concept to it's end. Too bad they didn't keep it for the prequel and sequel (both standing at 2-3 generations)
So what's bad?
- The graphics, as expected from a title from that developer. No budget there at all. It's too bad. If only the sprites were HD.
-The difficulty is just a little too high. The game would be long enough and content-filled enough not to necessitate to throw in endless grinding. If you want to avoid that, buy the DLC. I don't think I would appreciate the game half as much if I hadn't bought it, to be perfectly honest.