Not the best, but I always revisit this game every couple of years just to reminiscent of my childhood.

This was my first FF, in fact, my first JRPG.
My first love💕

The game is mostly above average in my opinion, really good game and does build up to be one of the most interesting and unique RPG game I ever played, probably far different from Final Fantasy or even any RPG games I ever played. Here are the pros, average, and cons on my views.

Pros:

Really good story, as always like rest of the Final Fantasy games.
Combat system is somewhat good, not a fan of a slow moving animation comparing to other games though but I got used to it.

GF (Guardian Force) has its own level up system, reliable for stronger summons. You also can summon as many times as you like, as long as they dont die from enemy attacks (it has its own health bar when attempting to summon).

New magic system where you can take magic from enemies and use it, whether it be attacking spells like fire, thunder, and ice, or healing spells like cure, heal, etc. Any kinds of spells you can find from different enemies. Very easy when it comes to grinding if theres any spells you wanted.

Neutral:

Junction system, starts off to be extremely complicated at first and requires patience to understand it. I didnt understood it until the near end of the game. The game IS hard if you dont understand the junction system. But when you understand better, you realize how useful it is. But then later further, you'll also realize how broken the junction system is if you put more into the junction system. For the most part in the beginning, you better off retreating from most encounters than actually fighting it until you need certain items.

Cons:

Character level up system, probably the one I hate the most out of everything if I'm honest. You cant grind level ups because if you did, the enemies will level up too. If you get stronger, so will they. Probably the most useless system I ever played. The only upside is this however, is you'll be able to take stronger spells. Allowing you to either use it on stronger enemies or junction it to make your character even stronger. Certain levels will have enemies get newer and stronger spells for you to take. This requires more strategy than a simple grind to win.

The grind system in general, I spent alot of hours grinding because I want to make my junction stronger. You'll go through alot of ridiculous moments and things does get alot harder but its possible to win when you get the idea how to use the junction system. But on the bright note, it'll make your situation alot more easier when you have the patience to grind.

Mana being absent due to the junction system, I do miss it from time to time and its always feels weird having to cast magic without mana, instead it acts out similar to using items. Minor issue but something you can past by.

Overall: Solid RPG game, and I consider this the hardest Final Fantasy game I ever played. Starts off to be annoying, and all the way through I understood how the game is and loved it.

The difficulty rating for this game is pretty low in my opinion. But the story is fun and it progresses well. I also use a randomizer mod called Maelstrom that makes it even more fun.