This game stands paramount to what games should aspire to become.
I'm going to start with the low point of the game: the sound. The voice acting in the game is about as good as it gets and the sound of effects are so satisfying that it made up for the horrible music thus not making me want to change my stereo to CD. The music is about some of the worst I have ever experienced. It's like the "dying cats parade" without the charm and fluffiness. I'm not sure why they skimped so much on the music, but it truly stands among the worst alongside my little brother attempting to sing.
The graphics of the game are somewhat of the mid-mark of the game with very pleasing central figures and a fair looking enemy. The dragon is the most pleasing looking one of the whole game and with good reason. She (it? she? most of the game it is referred to as "the dragon") is so absolutely cool looking. The visual of a fireball striking is just so very cool, as well. And in a brilliant stroke, overtaking Dynasty Warriors, Square decided to remove even the formality of having allies on the field of battle thus removing the pesky issue of polygon overload due to having friendly soldiers in the screen fighting, but barely damaging, the enemy. However, sadly, the problem of pop-up enemies is still present, though not to the extreme degree that Dynasty Warriors had it with enemies popping up right up in front of you, hitting you, and then disappearing again. They merely pop up from about 20 meters away if on the dragon and from even further when on foot.
One of the high points of the game would have to be the game play. With such hacking-and-slashing fun and the magic of the weapons and the dragon's fireballs, killing so many soldiers in such a short time has never been so fun. To see Caim jump 20 feet up on to the dragon's neck and then make the dragon lop a fire-breath bomb into the middle of a group of ten to fifteen soldiers and watch them fly is just so much fun. You become the walking and winged terror.
The highest point without a doubt to this game would have to be the value. There are over 40 hours of game play to this making it one of the longest video-game experiences since Final Fantasy X. And believe me, there is definite potential to reach over 100 hours with the high re-playability of this game and the multiple endings.
Overall, just a superb game on almost all fronts making for a great experience for the player. The only problem besides the music would have to be the requirements of one of the endings: collect all weapons. This can become quite a tedious task as there is very little chance of someone getting all the weapons without a guide. Checking off one weapon after another can be a pain and a bit of a chore. However, there are great and just rewards for every painstaking task in this game. So rest assured: this game is worth the trouble.