@mr. stick... Hmmm... That's an interesting interpretation and certainly seems quite plausible, but I though there was an intention for something a bit deeper as in maybe each of the people in his dream represented a area of his own psyche and personal spiritual beliefs. There are a few tie-ins along the way that would support that but it falls apart in the end. One interesting thing I noticed was that the flowers, when polka and chopin first encountered the illuminated flowers, she talks about them opening at precisely 2AM which is his time of death to the minute. Clearly there was some intention in the story to tie these two events together and they did try at the end of the game. I could just be looking for something deeper and complicating things.
Overall, I found the game to be rather wonderful and is a must play for the die-hard JRPG fan. I know it didn't get stellar reviews but it is really very good. I never stopped loving the environments as they were so rich in color and detail one couldn't help but be in awe with every new level.
The battle system, like all turn-based rpgs, can become a monotonous but they did a great job of bringing something fresh to turn-based by allowing the user free movement and options in how to attack your adversaires. As you level up, there are more options opened up and some of the attacks are awesome. I'd prefer all turn-based go to this format as it changes things up. The real issue with the battle system is not that it is turn-based but that there needed to be a few more varieties of monsters as they re-used them too often.
The story could certainly have been tied up a little tighter but still it is a thoroughly enjoyable game and I'd definitely say two thumbs up. It took me about 35 hours to finish the game and I spent no time on side-quests. I did engage in *most* monster battles as they were presented and finished the game with all party members in the low 60s level-wise.
The music, above all, was exceptional as I love classical.
I hate trolls.
Systems I currently own: 360, PS3, Wii, DS Lite (2)
Systems I've owned: PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Saturn, 3DO, Genesis, Gamecube, N64, SNES, NES, GBA, GB, C64, Amiga, Atari 2600 and 5200, Sega Game Gear, Vectrex, Intellivision, Pong. Yes, Pong.
