Here is a mini review from Sonsaru from GameFaqs. (yes the same guy that iclim posted info from):
Indeed, and it was good.
I've got about 5 hours behind me, and that's all I'm going to get until Saturday now, so I won't be around to answer questions and stuff right away. I'll give you some of my first impressions, anyway.
Graphics - lovely. The opening is quite short, but with a nice song timed well to the visuals which are all taken from cut scenes in the game. The ability to literally turn the images from line drawings into the in-game graphics is fantastic, and things like water and explosions look amazing. There are no real peaks and lows, however - just smoothly fantastic all the way through.
The whole thing is uber polished, too, with a lot of attention to detail and lovely visual sound effects and other touches. Menus, the book interface etc. are all beautifully polished too.
Story - The game is presented as a book, and between each episode of each chapter you are returned to the book page and have to select the new one. This drags you out of the story a little - you don't really feel like it is happening as you, but rather that you are indeed reading a book about what happened already. That's what they were going for, so like or lump it. I like it, but worry a little about emotional attachment to characters.
Also, very Japanese at the moment in terms of characterization. I think a 16 year old whiz mechanic driving your tank is probably the least realisitc of the characters, and they generally talk about their dreams for the future /smile and laugh a lot to say they are placed in the middle of a harrowing conflict. Having said that, Welkin is just made out to have incredible strength of character in a tough spot (he shows a new born baby the poor critter's burning home town and simply says, "This is your hometown,") and I'm sure waves of the horror of war will be upon us before too long. Of course, you have a unit of 20 characters from around the 3rd battle and yet only 5 of them ever appear in story scenes, which kind of sucks. They could have at least randomly put some of the others you are using in the background, even if they don't speak.
Combat - Starts out very simple, and gradually adds elements each time. There are two words that sum the system up perfectly - "simplicty" and "freedom."
Take the aiming circle. Here is a fantastic system that totally removes the need for any sort of "hit percentage" on the screen, instead creating a totally instinctual connection between distance / chances of hitting. The more of the enemy is inside the circle, the better chance you have of hitting them. That's it. Each troop type has a different sized circle.
Also, how you know when you will kill enemies. There's no looking at weapon strength stats and comparing them to enemy defense stats (although weapons do have a strength value.) Instead, when aiming at an enemy the box at the top of the screen shows you how many shots from your current weapon will be needed to kill that enemy if they hit in the current location. The next number is how many shots you will fire. You can work out your chances from that. I think this system is brilliant, though simple, just giving you exactly the information you need.
Then there is freedom. Troops level up simply by troop type, meaning that none of the 50+ characters you can switch into your unit are ever going to be left behind. You also don't have to worry about "giving everyone a turn" or even using a certain troop type for a while if you don't want to - experiance is awarded as a number at the end of battle and can be spent on any troop type you want. The ability to use CP on the same character as many times as you like (although they have less action points each time they are used repeatedly) plus the ability to carry unused CP over to the next turn just adds even more freedom of strategy.
In terms of making the characters unique, the Potentials add quite a bit (I would be warey of picking this up if you don't read Japanese, as that is a big stumbling block right there - you'll have real trouble working these even when they activate if you can't read them). For example, one of the female character gets stronger when there are lots of male allies around, and Welkin powers up when surrounded by nature. There are loads of these, some postive and some negative. On top of this each character can have up to three others that they are friendly with, boosting the chances of combo attacks with that character.
Tanks - they rule. Fitted so well into the system. I'm running out of time, and I could talk about them alone for ages. Only issue atm is that Welkin dying means Game Over, so putting the tank too far forward isn't a good idea.
Oh, and all rilfes / machine guns have infinite ammo. Add this into the "allies shoot at anything they can see" during enemy turns and you have a really crazy, fast paced system. Tank busters, grenades etc. have ammo that recharges each turn (remember you can move one character as many times as you like within a turn, but they will only have one grenade.) The support characters refill characters ammo just by running up to them, however, making them really useful.
Also, AP - action points. There is a *massive* difference in how much AP each troop type has. In a single move a scout can run right into enemy lines, take a shot at an enemy and then run back to safety. A tank buster may need 2-3 moves to get into position to attack one enemy, and then be left in the open. Again, massive potential for varying tactics.
So. Anyone expecting a super deep number cruncher may be a bit put off to start with - glossing over individual levels may harm replay value, I fear, but it makes a nice change of pace from, say, Shining Force (the old ones). Overall, if you love the genre you should be in heaven here - phew, finally, after Op Darkness, Dario, and even SRW OGs / Gaiden which were more story battles than meaty action, a real, solid, fun SRPG!
