The story and characters are well-written, and while the plot can be sometimes a little bit predictable, it still eventually delivers. The dialogs between characters is also good and comedic sometimes, and has quite the natural feeling to it, especially at the points which it sometimes "strays" beyond the subject of the dialog (such as short discussions about trivial matters, which are not essentially related to the plot). The combat system is simple enough, while the combat itself has a nice depth to it, although I found myself mainly sticking to a specific technique to defeat enemies. Finally, there is quite the amount of areas to explore, even though some of them are pretty useless (has nothing to interact with). The distinctive cons (in my opinion) that I can indicate, are: * Enemies which are defeated in combat, only to resurrect and cause more trouble - sometimes in a different form. This doesn't happen too often, but it does - and although a common thing in JRPGs, I personally consider it a rather cheap plot device. * Extensive exploration is (again, IMO) not rewarded good enough. Sure, you wondered around an area or location, looking through every crack and ally, but you'll mostly find nothing. That's a shame - I think that a player should be rewarded for exploring esoteric locations, especially those who're not essential to the plot. The developers made it - but the player may never experience it and why should he? He'll gain nothing from this. * Areas without maps. Yeah, some of the dungeons have maps or direction indicators – while some don’t, which makes you to lose your bearing quite often, and sometimes when you’re in a dungeon, save, quit and return to the game only a few days after – you’ll most probably forget where you were and where you were heading… * The game is rather short, and the characters could have used a little more perks and upgrades... All in all, this is a good and solid buy - personally, can't wait to play the sequel :)
