Pretty great game so far. The gameplay is a lot of fun, a bit sluggish at times and, even worse, there is occasionally some lag. That can be frustrating, but it doesn't happen often. The difficulty is perfect. There have been a few bosses where I had only 1-4 HP left and just managed to deal the killing blow before they whipped around and killed me.
It's absolutely gorgeous, of course. Bosses look huge (Godzilla v. Housefly with a spear), and there aren't any ordinary characters because even the generic ones have charm. Backgrounds during the level are phenomenal. You've got white-hot magma exploding over rocks in one level and smoking battlefields in another. The voice acting is okay, could be better. A lot of the merchants are pretty bad, but a few of them are golden. Main characters are alright, a few highlights and a few low points-- nothing distractingly bad.
I think the story, so far, is better than the average JRPG. Not much, though, at least not at first. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's getting better as it goes. I'm thinking that it will be something really great by the end, maybe a few fluctuations as we go. The second part was a real treat, easily on par with some of the better RPG stories I've seen.
Alchemy/gardening/food, etc. is fun but not some extraordinarily great part of the game. It adds a relatively interesting element and is easy enough that it doesn't get in the way.
Frankly it's been a while since I got some new 2D gameplay to burn through, on a non-handheld console, and it was a blast to get back into it. This is particularly good 2D gameplay with a few flaws. It's great fun even with 'em, though. Glad I bought it and I'd recommend it.
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And I'm never never sick at sea.
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