I'm playing the game here and there. I think I'm like 15 hours in. Some thoughts
+ Great cel-shaded 720p graphics.
+ Good soundtrack. Nothing I'd want to listen to outside the game though.
+ The world map is a good. Your characters are really tiny on it though.
+ I like most of the concept of the battle system. With one big exception...
- ...Oh my is the friendly AI terrible. No matter what option I set it to. I've seen (too many times) my poor partner not even throw out one of their familiars in battle and just run around like a complete idiot and battling poorly until I go in and manually take over. Or if the option not to use abilities is set, they just burn through all their MP after one or two battles. Does the partner AI play defensively when a big attack is signaled to be coming up? Nope, I haven't seen it happen. Ugh. I think I'm going to have to get the mindset of grinding EXP from easier battles just to compensate for the bad AI.
- My familiar got stuck underneath one of the bosses and despite it being set to attack, it just sat there and did nothing and couldn't get out.
o Story is rolled out really slowly, but it's decent. Not enough for a final verdict.
o I wish I could praise how challenging it is, but a lot of it I've experienced thus far is for all the wrong reasons.
o I wish Dragon Quest IX was on a console and was like the way this game is presented. The DS game was a step down from VIII and was really bland. Level 5 also developed those games.