There are a few things I dislike about this game, chief among them are the insanely high encounter rate and most of Nortune (especially the fucking sewers). However once you get Thames this game is incredibly smooth sailing.

Gameplay is not the most stimulating considering every time I fought monsters for a bit I'd proceed to open my menu, check progress on deathblows, close menu, over and over and over (might have just been a me issue). Also inputting the same combo over and over to grind up deathblows, having to watch the animation tends to get a little stale. Had it not been for the incredibly interesting world/lore and an engaging story I don't think I would have been able to get through this game.

Overall I'd highly recommend this game with an emulator to make some of the encounter rates more bearable. When this game gets going, it gets going. Easy recommend (with emulator).