A surprisingly good, charming and cozy action game, with a yet again surprisingly solid and surprisingly unoffensive story that is carried hard by very good set pieces incl. boss battles but particularly wonderful music and scenery. There's a lot of lore here that, while not very interesting in itself, gives the setting and the cast a sense of credibility, if that makes sense. Hearing about the past adventures of the party, instead of starting at zero, made me curious to learn more and get properly immersed in this world. Pay-off wasnt great but made for a nice change of pace when exploring the glossary entires and fate quests. Not too bad.

The combat system is extremely tight. You use variations of two attack buttons which also interact contextually with other actions, including 4 skills you can take with you to individualize your playstyle. It feels good, precise and fun regardless of whether you play a ranged character or a melee character. There are loads of variation with the various characters you can play and have in your party - and progression too is motivating, with the mastery, crafting and sigil system, although the game was not able to keep me grinding beyond the 50 hours i spent with it because in terms of content it starts becoming very repetetive.

I had little expectations, which made my enjoyment even greater. Due to its wonderful and refreshing art, both visually and musically, which underlines the engaging and motivating gameplay loop, this is a more than solid jrpg that i loved spending time with and in.