It's not a bad game, but jesus christ almighty way too many cutscenes.
The gameplay takes a backseat to cutscenes, it's not even 50/50.

A relatively fun action game with likeable characters and a decent, non-extraordinary plot. Perhaps not a must-play for fans of the genre, but definitely a game one can pick up once beaten all the most popular ones.

Cons:
- fantastic presentation (beautiful graphics, amazing soundtrack)
- likable main cast (special shoutouts to the obligatory in RPGs hyperactive young man who's much more likeable than most of his ilk in other games)
- decent story with some unexpected twists and a surprisingly bittersweet ending

Cons:
- floaty combat, it doesn't have that "oomph" feeling to it
- absolutely disastrous English translation (unexcusable in an RPG)
- no variance in how you can build your character (get to a blacksmith, buy best armor, find another one etc)
- despite being able to customize skill slots, about half of the skills are just upgrades of another so the effective amount of skills isn't that high
- rather boring sidequests with no memorable characters

This has to be one of the most underrated RPG experiences!
This game has a lot of care and attention gone into it, and Softstar has been quietly making Sword and Fairy games since 1995. The art-style and OSTs are the first thing that caught my attention, and the game does an excellent job at looking back at the important Taoist history of China.