A great game that holds true to the series
The characters you get to play as, yes I said player(s), all have their own special moves (in a fighting game sort of setup) that are distinct to their expertise. The game even allows you to switch helpers mid-level. Actually the puzzle solving, that has been a great staple in the series since it started, requires the use of multiple characters helping you out. The only thing I have against this system is the fact that switching characters is only allowed at save points, which at times are very very scarce. I don't know about you guys but I am not a fan or retracing my steps just to get someone else to go back through the whole level again to get one little red box. If the system that Final Fantasy X used to switch characters in battle was involved then this would be an absolutely perfect game.
The puzzle boxes are just as they should be and the puzzles are quite fun to figure out. Now they have incorporated a system of rotating orbs in a clockwise direction while lining them up in rows and columns.
Now for the Dark Realm. It now consists of 100 FLOORS! that get progressively harder the more you descend. Also in the mix is about a third of the way down the enemies will respawn multiple times before you can proceed to the next floor. This place is more frustrating than being late for work while sitting in gridlock traffic or being locked in the closet and having to go the the bathroom. The amount of floors is apparently equal to the amount of known expletives you will be throwing at the TV while you progress all the way to the bottom. As you can see, in my own opinion, this place has been made too hard for the casual gamer. You must have intimate knowledge of critical hits and enemy location to even get through the bottom 50 floors. Not to mention almost limitless healing supplies for the last 20 floors or so.
Other than that the scenery is on par with the advances of the PS2 gaming trend. It is extraordinary. The houses in the broken down villages looks very, well, broken down. The backgrounds just oozes with majestic mountains, lush forests, and babbling brooks. The sounds accompanying the scenery are just as good. Offering you a real sense of large amounts of detail and thought put into the ambient settings.
The game is very very well done and a good improvement over the third one.