kind of interesting to play from a historical perspective but definitely has some issues. this game has an exceptionally bland story. could have been ripped right from a 15 yo dungeon master's notes. the music is nice but considering in both book 1 and 2 you spend about half the game in a single area you're probably going to get tired of a lot of the tracks.
bump system is the defining mechanic w these games aaaand it's kinda whatever. i think it's less engaging than standard turn based combat and feels more stat-checky. in every situation where i got stuck it wasn't because i wasn't dodging or bumping well enough, it was because i didn't have a key item or was underleveled. grinding in this game is much less fun than in a standard jrpg e.g. dragon quest because you have to have your full attention but you're still not doing anything that's really fun, so it's neither relaxing or engaging. book 1 has kind of comically easy bosses, book 2 is more stacked against the player but doesn't feel like there's much strategic depth added, you just fireball instead of bumping most of the bosses
oh yeah everyone in this game calls all enemies "goons". it's very funny. some of the lock and key stuff is also pretty silly in a way i found charming ("yeah sorry i lost this magic orb guess i have a hole in my pocket or something")