Pure quality from start to finish. So easy to see how this has become a classic and how its focus on characters has informed the modern JRPG. The game is not going to blow you away if you've played the games that take inspiration from it, but the fact there is almost no filler is amazing. The music is awesome, the characters are very likeable, and the locations are varied and interesting enough for it to never hit those dull lows of longer JRPGs that have you grinding and completing fetch quests to drag out the game length.

The game is a solid 20 hours and for all that time I was completely engaged. The combat is also pretty unique and I'm surprised it hasn't been emulated more. It's more time-based than turn-based with battles that happen within the levels themselves and without uninspired random encounters. Overall, it's pretty easy throughout and you don't really need to grind much. Some of the bosses are really good though, especially the final gauntlet of bosses.

The only negative thing is the padding added by the DS and PC versions in the form of optional dungeons and quests. I stumbled into the Lost Sanctum questline and played it for a few hours, but most of the added content only serves to disrupt the tight pacing of the original. I just didn't play it and had a much better time for it.