So... I bought it anyway.

Since then, I've played it about 5hrs and so far it's been really quite good. Technically, the game is well-done. There's some amazing FMV (for the DS), and the in-game graphics, although cutesy, are also quite good. I also really enjoy the music- I usually end up putting on headphones so I don't have to listen to it through the tinny DS speakers.

Occasionally, the random encounters can bog the game down, but normally they don't stand out as an annoyance. The story obviously isn't as epic as the other games, but it's still enough to keep me interested in playing. I've unlocked my first crop of available jobs and they're serving to help keep things interesting as well. So far, I've tried monk, white mage, warrior, and red mage- but the red mage didn't get enough spell points to be an offensive caster so I switched her to a black mage at the expense of being able to use good weapons/armor.

That worked fine until I started having to play a segment in 'mini' form where you can do little or no melee damage. The monk really started to stink at that point since he couldn't do melee damage and still can't wear decent armor- so I changed him to a red mage. Now, he can do minor healing/offensive spells as well as usegood weapons & armor. So far, so good.