What starts off as an okay playable game really shines by the end of Disk 1
In fact that's why you should play this game all the way through. In the beginning, the game seems like something out of Harry Potter, some kids are specialists in their fields at a school, and they have to complete missions for their instructors. It's a slow start, and you really have no idea where it's going until part way through the disc when you meet a girl who's the head of a resistance movement, and from there the story not only picks up, but doesn't stop all the way through. Animations help you connect to the characters, which are absolutely beautiful. It doesn't matter if it's a battle scene, a parade, or just a character introduction, it really pulls you into the game.
The only other problem with this is that the GF system does seem to slow down the game. You have to manually Junction these creatures into your character, and it takes a couple seconds each, but that's a couple seconds ever five minutes out of hours and hours of game play, and it does start to add up. With a game as beautiful as this, you don't want to waste any time on a blackgrey screen doing anything.
As for the story, it has the traditional Final Fantasy Strengths and Flaws. It's a great story, compelling you to get to the next part, but occasionally feels a little too sappy, using the main characters depression as an excuse to reiterate that war is hell at EVER SINGLE TURN. Yes it can get a little annoying, considering it wasn't written for children, and yet has so many points that seem to appeal to children only. Having said that, the rest of the story is usually very interesting and will have you playing till the wee hours.
It's a long game, and well worth the hours you put into it. I personally like this game, it's beautiful, compelling, and the GF's, despite monotonous, are still interesting to collect and use. For those of you who are child conscience, it does have a bit of PG-13 material, so if you don't want your eight year old subjected to that, don't play it in front of them. Still, for the rest of you, go get em!