I wouldn't say it's similar to SRPGs like Fire Emblem or Disgaea. The focus of the battle system is in the clashes, which there is like, no equivalent for in the majority of SRPGs out there. The battle system is by far THE reason to play it, though. It's so fun.
Only a few characters really get any development in the story, although the ones that do are fairly interesting (I really liked Yggdra's development throughout the game). The story itself is nothing special. Neither is the music, although for some reason I really liked it when I first played. The graphics are mostly really nice in both versions. It's funny, because there are only a few sprites for each animation in the game, but it still looks great because the sprites themselves are so detailed.
My only real problem with the game is the difficulty. There is no happy medium with it. If you don't pay attention to the mechanics, it's a really hard game. But if you do pay attention, it's really easy. Also, it does reference Riviera quite a bit, but it's mostly just in items, names, and some designs. You should feel bad if you let references affect your decision in any way, though!
So there's my jumble of unorganized thoughts.
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