Brave Story: New Traveler Immediately

I've played enough JRPGs to get a little jaded, and it's hard to find any new ones that can hold my interest very long. I usually end up just replaying older ones I still love over and over, so this game was a really delightful surprise. There are three things that, in my opinion, make for a good RPG: a compelling story, characters you actually care about, and fun gameplay. Brave Story doesn't exactly have these things in spades, but it somehow manages to entertain anyway.
The story isn't amazing or anything like that-- in fact, it's a bit cliche. But it's definitely not the worst I've seen in an RPG.
The characters aren't developed very much on an individual basis, but they're entertaining enough, and as a group you become pretty possessive of them.
To be honest, the gameplay is probably what really had me laying up late at night leveling (and I usually HATE leveling characters).

Fighting is turn-based, but you get to choose who fights on your team (aside from the main Traveler, who always has to be in the group). This actually requires some thought most times, as certain characters are better opponents for different monsters. Also, the more certain characters fight together, the closer they get. They might leap in to deflect blows meant for teammates, and they learn Unity skills together, which are powerful attacks or boosts. One of the things that makes leveling a little easier is the way experience points are doled out. They don't go solely to the fighters, as in some games. While the three-man team you have fighting gets the lion's share of the EXP, the ones on standby still get a portion of it, which helps your party level up a little faster than they might otherwise.

You're also allowed pretty much free reign of the map once you get past one or two barriers. If you can reach it, you can go there, even if it means you're level 10 and the monsters in the area will wipe the floor with you. This is partly because of the many many optional side quests which help make the game last longer and also keep the story from being overbearingly linear.
(Also, since this matters to some, the graphics are beautiful.)

The game is neither too simple or too difficult. I'm not going to say it's one of the best RPGs I've ever played, but it is the most fun I've had playing one of these more "classic" types since Dragon Quest.


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Very tiny spoiler-ish side note:
I had one tiny gripe after finishing the game, and that's that it seemed to leave loose ends with the majority of the cast. If you're big on story and character development and are hoping for a Chrono Trigger or Dragon Quest type ending that shows everything wrapping up, that may disappoint you, too.
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