What the screenshots don't show you are neat little details like insects crawling up walls and stuff like that.
Also, this was I believe Masashi Hamauzu's first soundtrack and he sure does knock it out of the park. One of my favorite VG soundtracks.
The story itself is well down. Its a lot more linear than previous SaGas. The story is that of two young men, one is an archeologist-type fellow trying to follow in his father's footsteps while trying to find the mystery of his parent's death. The other is a story of an exiled prince. The stories are intertwined with each other and follows the lives of these two as they grow up and become successful and powerful, kind of like Dragon Quest V.
The gameplay is pretty neat, though I strongly recommend using an FAQ because learning techniques is a bit more complex than other JRPGs.
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Like Deathmore, only cooler sounding.
Kuronichi Harunobu, The Rabbit of Kai