All round beautiful game. Visually stunning with exciting and unique gameplay make this a game not to be missed.
The history fictional setting: Europa (not massively inspired) is told through a book mode, where you watch certain cutscenes and participate in battles. In between this you can do all manner of things, such as go to headquaters, where you can do several things, such as select who will fight in your squad; level up your troops and buy upgrades for your troops and your tanks. The BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones) system of combat is an interesting and unique way of playing, you have a certain ammount of Command Points (CP) which you can spend on moving your troops around and issuing orders, once you've used your CP your turn is up and the enemy has their turn. You move your troops in relative real-time (you will be fired on by enemy soldiers) but when you aim you are exempt from return-fire, if you don't kill a soldier though, expect them to retaliate. The choice of different soldiers and tanks, as well as the ability to issue orders, which enhance your soldiers attacks (increase anti-tank damage, increase aim, etc.) offer you a wide choice of accomplishing this games many missions.
There is a big choice of soldiers to choose from, and whilst their stats don't vary too much, all have different Potentials, which are basically stat bonuses or minuses depending on your situation (if your troop fancies men they will aim better when surrounded by men or you don't do as much damage because of a pollen allergy). You can also equip your troops with special weapons. The story is fairly good, and whilst occassionally it can seem slightly childish it deals with heavy subjects such as death. Also, it often seems slightly over-sentimental, but this compliments the beautiful anime style graphics and offers a thoroughly heart-felt experience similar to many Hayao Miyazaki films.
Overall this game is beautiful, thoroughly enjoyable, and really quite unique, a classic. It doesn't take a coinnosseur of strategy games or JRPGs to appreciate this for the beautiful game it is.