It's good but not perfect. I've spent 50hrs on it, just about to fight the White Witch / Cassiopeia having done almost all the sidequests available to me. Personally I agree that the battle system has issues, though I don't find it as much of a problem as others seem to you're right that the ally AI is very primitive and at times counter-productive, plus it is a little bit rinse and repeat, though you can say that about many JRPGs. Story isn't going to win any prizes but it's solid with some touching moments and a genuinely good twist nearer the end when Shadar's back story is revealed.
Its biggest strength is definitely its presentation though, lovely art style and some excellent pieces of music, particularly the overworld and Hamelin themes, battle music leaves a little to be desired but the OST is strong overall. Graphically, the real standout feature are the real animated Studio Ghibli cutscenes, but it's a shame that there are so few of them. Voice acting is pretty good, I thought the kiddiness would irritate me after a while but it was fine and I actually quite came to like how they gave all the fairies Welsh accents, not something you see very often.
Overall its well-worth playing and is a nice length as far as I can tell. Sidequests could do with more variety but then they are voluntary, one or two are very time 7consuming and not all that interesting though. Really I don't think I would quite give an 8, more like a 7.7, but that's the nearest option.
It's also now very cheap, here in the UK it just got an Essentials reprint and when I looked last week on amazon it was only about £13, well worth picking up even at a higher price
