A unique RPG, in decidedly oldschool style for those who see no problem with prerendered graphics.
The setting plays along with a seamless blend of European myths of demons, vampires, werewolves, combined with Asian myths and style. While the story is played out by an unlikely hero in the form of a demonsoul infused punk compelled by a more noble and benevolent force to fight an enemy that appears outwardly as more of a goodguy than the cast of heroes. The perverted, adult sense of humor is also a nice balance to the often gory, horror-themed world the characters journey through.
The graphics' technical level doesn't seem too much on the level of the best looking games on the PS2, but I forgive this easily because I loved the days of the pre-rendered worlds in games like Resident Evil, Parasite Eve, Fear Effect, etc. For me, the fixed camera views from various angles depending on the scene are a positive point, not a detraction. Who ever decided that all games need to be a fully 3D polygon environment? These are too common and have resulted in styles that are quite bland in comparison to the pre-rendered style of this game.
The sounds are nothing to be impressed by, but the music is very unique and fun. One of those few soundtracks you can listen to without ever feeling the need to "skip" tracks. Maybe music is a little more taste-specific, but this is one of my favorite soundtracks ever. Somewhere between Final Fantasy and Silent Hill.
As for the gameplay, it plays very much like the standard oldschool turnbased RPG. You have 3 characters taking turns pounding the enemy, casting healing and damaging magic, and using the occasional item in the random encounter style. The magic is learned automatically as the characters level, so there is no customization aside from equipment. But this results in characters being true characters, instead of what can happen with overly customizable characters, any of whom can be anything. A white magic user IS a white magic user, no need to give her a sword, platemail and the odd blackmage spell. The real way this game stands out from these standards is the "Judgment Ring" which plays a little like Wheel of Fortune, stopping it in the right place determines whether you miss, hit, or critically hit. This adds a level of involvement and skill absent from almost every other RPG out there, putting control in the gamer's hands rather than leaving it up to the roll of the dies to determine your fate.
One of my favorite RPGs on the PS2. I recommend it highly to older fans, reminiscing the "good ol' days".
The only reason I took half a point away from the Perfect 10 is the voice acting. Voice acting is hard to get right, and the voices in this game are lacking for sure, but the annoying part is the English dialog voices are obviously different from the in-combat grunts of the Japanese voices. But, not that noticeable after a while.