I picked it up last thursday and put about 25 hours into it so far. I am impressed. Decent predictable plot, kinda lame at times but enough to hold my interest...so far.
The world map and main game graphics are top notch, the skits get old quick though.
The battle system is where this game really shines imo. Enemies show up on the world map and are easily avoided if you choose not to fight them, when you run into the enemy the battle mode kicks in an you get to whoop some ass. The combat is real time and you have a basic set of attacks plus a whole slew of tech attacks. You can string these together for combos...with some pretty sweet animations I should note. Another plus is you control whatever member of the part you want and have decent control over some AI patterns for the other members. You can control their targeting, spell use, add tech attacks to the c stick. All of this adds up to a damn fun rpg on the gamecube, Imagine that!
So I say check it out if you see it, rent it first maybe...but definitely give it a look.