The combat system is definitely pretty influenced by tactical games. You're given a movement range and your weapon has a certain range, so you can only hit nearby enemies. You also knock enemies back (unless there's something/someone behind them), so movement isn't just for closing in at the beginning of a fight. Magic/"Arts" has no range restriction, but takes a turn to cast unless you sacrifice a slot for something that grants instant casting (the whole way equipping magic works makes me think of materia). Then there's Crafts which are instant skills unique to each character which rely on something reminiscent of a limit bar which goes up as you attack/take hits. AND battle turns have certain random bonuses that can happen, ranging from boosting damage or causing a guaranteed crit to healing the player or increasing the gains if you kill an enemy that turn. Meaning you also want to manipulate turn order. But somehow it still feels quite a bit like a JRPG rather than a tactical game.
It's definitely an oldschool style JRPG. Once you leave certain places as the story progresses you can't go back (though to be fair the game warns you about this). There can definitely be times you end up grinding for a while (I'm not that far in, but if I want to really equip my characters in the new town I'm in, I'm gonna have to do some grinding and sidequests for money). Speaking of which, the sidequests are pretty neat. They can range from killing monsters blocking the roads to delivering a letter, or finding some ingredient for cooking, etc. They seem to be your biggest source of money (you can convert the stuff you get from killing mobs, but that also serves as the crafting currency for magic related stuff, so the more you spend on improving your magic, the less you can convert to actual money without grinding for more).
Of course, it's a Nihon Falcom game, so the music is great. The graphics on the other hand.... Well, it was developed in 2006. Not that that bothers me any, but it feels weird playing something on PC that has so distinctly console style low resolution 2D character sprites in a 3D world.
I can't comment on the overall plot or anything, but I should point out that this is the first of now like 6 games in the kiseki series which all take place in the same world and fairly close in time to eachother, all of which work to build the world in quite heavy detail. From what I can tell this series has some SERIOUS world building in it. In this game many NPCs actually move around the world as your character travels so you'll bump into recurring characters. And many NPCs will change what they have to say as the plot progresses. Apparently the game had ~1.5 million japanese characters worth of tect to be translated, which IIRC is on the same level as translating a large visual novel like Clannad (which explains why it wasn't release in english until 2011).
Overall, I'm enjoying it. But it's definitely a JRPG of the traditional variety, meaning anyone who's not interested in potentially grinding now and then, or doesn't like the tropes and general approach to gameplay that JRPGs have will probably struggle to enjoy it.
