Great story and fun game play, with only a few minor technical issues to bring things down.
The story revolves around two young twins, Yuri and Chelinka. The two lead a seemingly regular life with their father until strange circumstances involving crystals start to become drawn to them, and before long, the Temple officials come after them. (Strangely, the "Church" and the monarchy in this game are not allies. First time for everything, huh?)
In terms of how well the story is done, it is less epic and more charming. If you're looking for an action-packed adrenaline rush, this might now be the game you're looking for. For a cute, humorous adventure, this is a good choice. Aside from the slight deux ex machina at the end, the story is excellent.
The battling is very straightforward. Basically, it is a real-time hack-and-slash to kill enemies with your weapons. For most of the game, this is all that will be required. It may seem too simple, but later on in the game, you will be required to both hack-and-slash AND use tactics at the same time for a better challenge.
The artificial intelligence it very useless, unfortunately. You will have a maximum of four party members at one time, and whichever three you are not controlling at the moment will basically do nothing during battle. The only attack every five seconds or so, cannot heal themselves, cast their own magic, or avoid enemy attacks, so sometimes it is just easier to let them die rather than trying to support them. The only positive part of having them with you is when a certain character's special moves must be used to get through a dungeon and when your main fighter dies so that you can switch to another character to revive them.
The leveling system is the classic form. Defeat enemies to gain EXP, a certain amount of EXP to gain a level, and stat boosts with every level gained. Extra stat boosts can also be purchased from shops during the game as well, if you have the cash.
The dungeons are very fun. None of them are simply "Point-A to Point-B" areas, but rather puzzles which you must successfully solve to reach your goal. The dungeons will contain switches, levers, buttons, moving ramps, and more, which all provide a great, but solvable challenge for the player. Furthermore, the game has no dungeons that seem to go on forever, causing boredom to the player, as is the case with many games.
Boss fights are also very innovative. Very seldom can the player easily win by simply running up and attacking. In many ways, the bosses are puzzles themselves. They usually have a "Crystal" weak point, which the player must expose first to do much more significant damage.
For equipment, rather than buying every piece of armor and weaponry, it is usually more profitable to order them in exchange for a "scroll" and certain materials gained throughout the journey. Ordering items is much like the synthesis system seen in many other Final Fantasy games, and the obtained equipment often carries extra stat bonuses. The best pieces of armory in the game can also only be obtained via this method.
The overall graphics of the game are also very eye-catching. The characters are top quality for the DS and the scenery never gets too repetitive. The sound is also very well done, with excellent voice overs.
One downside to the graphics is that the game will sometimes lag when there is a large amount of activity on the screen. (Enemies, dropped items, etc.) Fortunately, this does not happen too often, and doesn't occur during any critical times.
Overall, this game is very well done. With fun dungeons, enemies, and boss fights, creative player abilities, inviting graphics and sound, and a good plot, I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a leisure past-time. The game is honestly not particularly hard, especially if leveling is not neglected, and it only takes about 10 hours to complete, but between more challenging games, this is very good adventure to experience.