Ogre Battle 64 meets Yggdra Union in a strong effort to create this unique title
So far it has the army building qualities of Ogre Battle 64. That is, which units you recruit and where you place them on the grid greatly effects the outcome of the battle. They've taken it a step further though in being able to customize the grid with little add-ons that power up certain units. Also, the battle is more automated than Ogre Battle 64, which is good in the fact that battles take less time, but bad in the fact that it seems like you're not making 100% of the choices.
It also shares some qualities with Yggdra Union, as in the way the battles are played out. Your army is on one half and the bad guys are on the other half and they go back and forth with their attacks until a requirement is met (all soldiers killed/ general defeated/ etc.) The game seems a little linear so far (at least compared to Disgaea), but I see the possibilities for a lot of customization.
UPDATE:
I'm quite a bit further into this game now, and I've noticed a few annoying things.
The 1st being the room system. In order to use your characters in battle, they must be placed inside a room. The only way to get the room you want is to randomly generate rooms until the desired one comes up, which can take a long time later in the game after you've earned many different rooms.
Also, there doesn't seem to be any real logic to how your characters attack. Sometimes your archers will shoot the front row of bad guys, sometimes they'll shoot the middle, etc. Same with the spellcasters. Your melee characters will always attack the closest enemy, unfortunately, when two or more enemies tie for being the closest, it's random which one they attack.
None of these are game breaking flaws. Soul Nomad still manages to pull off a very fun and engaging battle system. There are many levels of customization that won't be apparent right away. You'll wonder what factors are affecting the outcomes of your battles, and it will seem very random at first. The further you get into the game, the more you'll learn the little details that will eventually effect every decision you make in battle.
It's a complicated, sometimes random game, with a lot of unique gameplay aspects. If you're looking for something new and exciting, you've found it.