Setting/Concept:
A super-mean guy (this is established by the fact that he dresses like a German officer, has facial hair, and lets an evil genie eat one of his subordinates) manages to unleash an evil genie. The genie uses it's incredible power to attack various towns and cities. By virtue of his magic, a fairy (maybe elf, I forget) is able to seal everything into seperate protective bubbles, but they get tossed about by the genie's attack all the same. It's up to Toah to find these magical balls and rebuild the world.

Graphics:
The graphics are actually pretty good in this one. They're sort of bland, but that's more because of area/character design. You won't find many jaggies or anything of that sort. Clean, but not eye-poppingly good.

Character design:
The characters are decent, I suppose. A lot are pretty sterotypical types, but you get that with most games. Since you only meet a few characters in most areas, they're generally very unique. The playables are pretty good, and their battle animations are done well. Enemies look good too.

Area design:
When you get to a new level, it'll all seem VERY familiar. All levels are randomly generated and lack graphical distinction. What you get isn't bad, it just isn't great, either.

Controls:
This game is very playabe. You've got the standard action RPG stuff; lock-on button, item hotkey type stuff, dodging and the like. Nothing revolutionary, but it's done well, so it doesn't need to be.

Gameplay:
If you're a fan of action RPGs, I can almost guarantee you'll think this game is fun. The only question is how long you'll think it's fun. The whole "go to a dungeon and collect more parts to the city" thing is enjoyable, but becomes slightly less so after about 40 runs. The actual city reconstruction is one of my favorite parts. You have to talk to the locals and rebuild the town following their suggestions if you want the best result. Battles are pretty fun, and bosses range from ridiculously easy to mildly difficult. You have occasional "Dance Dance" battles, in which you have to press buttons along with a prompt scrolling across the screen. The weapons system is a nice addition that I haven't seen in any other game. You can put enhancing items (either a stat or an effect) into your weapons. When you get enough experience with that weapon, it will level up and forever absorb whatever you put in it. Each has a stat maximum depending on what weapon it is. When a weapon gets to level five, you have the option on turning it into an attachment itself, retaining sixty percent of it's stats and element effects. In this manner, you can easily make super weapons. You can also upgrade your weapons if they meet certain stat requirments. The game doesn't offer much variety, but it isn't too bad, since what they start with is pretty blasted fun other than the puzzles. They aren't puzzles so much as you switching your character to do one thing (jumping a pit, for instance), then switching back to the one you actually want to use.

Sound:
Nothing memorable. Not horrible, not fantastic. The music isn't an annoyance and the sound effects are appropriate. Nothing you really need to hear though, so don't feel bad if you opt for volume down and the stereo on.

Overall
Setting/Concept: 8 (for some degree of originality)
Graphics: 7
Character Design: 8
Area Design: 5
Controls: 9
Gamplay: 7 (drop the score by one point for each new area you get to, probably)
Sound: 7

Summary
There aren't a whole lot of reasons to buy this game. The area challenges (pleasing the people in each city) are easy to do. The only real reason to replay would be boredom, lack of a new game, or dreadfully wanting the most powerful items. There's also a trading sub-quest you might want to do, but again, it wouldn't warrant playing twice. If you see this one in the bargain bin (which you're likely to do) or used at your local store, you might want to pick it up all the same.
-Fuma