Incredible artwork, great characters n' voice acting. ~ The music is totally inappropriate!! ~~(Jazz??)
The art in the game is truly incredible! Perfect, watercolor-like textures that take my breath away.
It is reminiscent of "Suikoden 3" in which you have the option to run about the area collecting character "Friends" that will go along with you in a party-group. This game has an incredible 176 extra folks, not including the main character.
The story I am still getting into, (35 -41 hours), but I can see where it's going, and I am sure what the good, "Square moment" might be. However, if it's a great "Square moment" where things totally change and go crazy, I'll probably be wrong - and that will be so nice. :) ~lol~
The characters' personalities are executed very well with dialog that is funny and enjoyable. I've laughed a number of times at the great humor.
The voice acting is outstanding!! If you are into anime and have ever seen a really good English dub, you will recognize some of the talented folks used in Radiata. :)
Sometimes, Jack's constant "hiyah" during battles gets *really* old, because he says it almost every 2 seconds or so. That may be my only criticism of the voice acting bit of it.
My main and total disappointment in the game comes with the music. It's totally dreadful to be in fantasy like world and hearing jazz riffs that include saxophones and a horn section. It just doesn't "FIT". It is not really bad music, but I cringe at some of the theme songs. Often, I eventually have to mute it or turn on something else to listen to while I'm running through town or the fields . For me - it's THAT BAD.
The pieces of music that I do really like are "Black Town", the Opening Trailer piece, "Blue Town", and the "Adien Region".
Overall, this is a beautiful piece of work by Square Enix, with incredible voice acting to help with the immersion into the game. (Ya' just might have to turn on some different music while you're out fighting however, or you may get hastily thrown out of the suspension of disbelief.)
Great RPG for any folks even remotely interested. :) Try it out! * ^^ *