I was kind of hoping somebody else might be starting this thread today, I've not done this sort of apraisal before so apologies in advance if I waffle on. 
My copy arrived at 11.50am and apart from breaks to answer the call of nature and eat my lunch and evening meal I've only just now managed to put it down.
Everything about this game is great.
The US boxart, whilst minimalistic, is appealing to my eyes, and if you miss the Japanese boxart then it does make an appearance on the game manual which is printed in full colour throughout.
Firing up the game you are greated with a really neat and quite lengthy CG intro which starts out on one screen and then goes onto switch screens and then make use of both together. The accompioning music does make you feel that you are about to experience something special.
Start the game and you get the option to launch a new game, continue a game or set-up your wireless connection.
The game can be controlled using the D-Pad and buttons or you can play it using just the DS stylus. I must confess I haven't even read the manual yet and haven't had the need to. I've been using the stylus control method and after about 20 minutes or so it felt second nature.
To move around just move the stylus around the character, if the stylus is close to him, he will walk, move it further away and he runs. The menu is accessed by tapping the menu icon on the top right of the screen. The camera can be zoomed in using an icon on the top left. This comes into play in towns and dungeons for finding hidden switches and items.
All the battle commands can be input using the stylus on the pop-up command menu and if you want to cancel a command just tap the centre of the screen to go back to the beginning of the commands for that character. It's all very intuitive and anyone that has played a Final Fantasy game will feel right at home.
The 3D graphics are very good, the textures are blocky close-up but never horrid. The characters are very nicely presented and the job costumes are nicely detailed. I had both Luneth and Refia in Red Mage costumes, but instead of being in identical outfits their neckacheifs where different in appearance, what with one being a boy and the other a girl. Nice touch I thought.
The battles and spell effects are nicely presented, my characters are only on level 3 magic so I expect I'll see bigger and better effects later on in the game.
The beginning of the game see's you start out as a single character Luneth who has just fallen into the games first dungeon from which you must find your way out. In the process you will have several random battles, discover some treasures and more importantly get your first glimpse as to what the main quest is to be.
Later on you will meet the other members of your party, unlock some different jobs for your characters to develop into, and also unlock Mognet.
Friends can then use Mognet to send each other letters (useful for asking for help, or just to find out how far into the game they have got). You can also send letters to NPC characters you have met along they way. I think that this will trigger sidequests and rewards, though I have yet to try it out as I have been too preoccupied with advancing the excellent main story.
The randomness of the battles can be a little overwhelming/frustrating early on in the game when inventory items are in low supply and players characters have low HP. It doesn't last long as your group develops as with all RPG's of this kind.
If you have a DS and you like the Final Fantasy series then in my opinion you really can't go wrong with this.
My copy arrived at 11.50am and apart from breaks to answer the call of nature and eat my lunch and evening meal I've only just now managed to put it down.
Everything about this game is great.
The US boxart, whilst minimalistic, is appealing to my eyes, and if you miss the Japanese boxart then it does make an appearance on the game manual which is printed in full colour throughout.
Firing up the game you are greated with a really neat and quite lengthy CG intro which starts out on one screen and then goes onto switch screens and then make use of both together. The accompioning music does make you feel that you are about to experience something special.
Start the game and you get the option to launch a new game, continue a game or set-up your wireless connection.
The game can be controlled using the D-Pad and buttons or you can play it using just the DS stylus. I must confess I haven't even read the manual yet and haven't had the need to. I've been using the stylus control method and after about 20 minutes or so it felt second nature.
To move around just move the stylus around the character, if the stylus is close to him, he will walk, move it further away and he runs. The menu is accessed by tapping the menu icon on the top right of the screen. The camera can be zoomed in using an icon on the top left. This comes into play in towns and dungeons for finding hidden switches and items.
All the battle commands can be input using the stylus on the pop-up command menu and if you want to cancel a command just tap the centre of the screen to go back to the beginning of the commands for that character. It's all very intuitive and anyone that has played a Final Fantasy game will feel right at home.
The 3D graphics are very good, the textures are blocky close-up but never horrid. The characters are very nicely presented and the job costumes are nicely detailed. I had both Luneth and Refia in Red Mage costumes, but instead of being in identical outfits their neckacheifs where different in appearance, what with one being a boy and the other a girl. Nice touch I thought.
The battles and spell effects are nicely presented, my characters are only on level 3 magic so I expect I'll see bigger and better effects later on in the game.
The beginning of the game see's you start out as a single character Luneth who has just fallen into the games first dungeon from which you must find your way out. In the process you will have several random battles, discover some treasures and more importantly get your first glimpse as to what the main quest is to be.
Later on you will meet the other members of your party, unlock some different jobs for your characters to develop into, and also unlock Mognet.
Friends can then use Mognet to send each other letters (useful for asking for help, or just to find out how far into the game they have got). You can also send letters to NPC characters you have met along they way. I think that this will trigger sidequests and rewards, though I have yet to try it out as I have been too preoccupied with advancing the excellent main story.
The randomness of the battles can be a little overwhelming/frustrating early on in the game when inventory items are in low supply and players characters have low HP. It doesn't last long as your group develops as with all RPG's of this kind.
If you have a DS and you like the Final Fantasy series then in my opinion you really can't go wrong with this.
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