Snagged this on discount for $35 shortly after it's release. I was curious what everyone's impressions were?

So far my wife and I have thoroughly trounced the first portion of the game, and both have level 16 characters with teir 1 weapons. I'm playing as Xion, and she as Neige (the only two male/female companions who don't have annoying voice clips)

Here's my short thoughts on the game:

Cons:
- The skills system is a little shallow, what with them trying to emulate the four directional menus from shining force. (a bad choice imho because there's no necessity driving it on the PS2)
- Combat is rather fun, but enemies aren't too bright, and mostly consist of "chaff" enemies who attack seldom, and use skills even less often, they make fun targets for guardian summoning though...
- The "smithing" system is frustrating until you know how it works (thanks gamefaqs)
- Storyline is semi-engaging, but the lack of voice actors and copious amounts of text bog it down
- 2 players can play through the story together, but to each own their own army you have to play in the "mirror" world, which means you can only play stages that one or the other player has already completed.
- 2 player mode had to be unlocked by playing for about an hour.
- Load times KILL

Pros:
- Pretty game, all hand-drawn backgrounds, and smoothly animated 2D characters
- 2p co-op is a blast as you have to cooperate in order to do maximum damage, and characters skill levels effect one another
- Weapons are upgradeable and have a five teir three path progression
- Armor is upgradeable similarly
- Lots of variety in the characters you can play with
- Nifty Anime intro to the game features some beautiful animation
- Healing and Mana regen items work on both players at once
- Music is very reminiscent of older console RPGs, battle music is nice.