So this game kind of intrigues me, but the tactical RPG thing kind of worries me. I've played some "Fire Emblem" games and liked them well enough, but when I tried "Final Fantasy Tactics," I didn't understand anything and couldn't get past the first battle. Is this close to either of them? Thanks.

I love this game, but the strategy is a little weird. Especially when you begin fighting ranged troops you will be actively trying to weaken hostile forces instead of killing them to prevent gang-ups, since the combat generally takes turns, making smaller healthy groups more effective. The look is amazing, the story is fun and bleak, and most of the major mistakes you make occur not in combat, but in dialogue trees! Seriously, you lose characters in dialogue choices, not in combat, which seems... strange. Still, I really enjoyed it. Once you get a few tactical moves down and learn to use your heroes the combats are tricky and satisfying with fun animations and the opportunity to combine abilities into crushing combos.

As the poster above me said, combat is somewhat tricky at start but not even midway through the game I found it tedious at times. It's easy to attain victory and even if you lose the battle you still win so long as you make good decisions in the story. That's not to say there's no challenge in the game; your heroes can be injured and therefore not usable during the next battle, making your chances of victory less likely and therefore robbing you of necessary reputation points to keep on going. The only fight I really had trouble with is the final battle, which I won't get into due to spoilers.

I hope you decide to play the game as the story is well worth your time imho. Cheers!