I'm not saying that gameplay is unimportant, but if it's important to you then you might as well not get the game. I, however, am more interested in the stories you will find in the game. If you don't have a Nintendo Power, then here are scans of their article so that you'll learn about what I was talking about.
http://yaminokaitou.livejournal.com/325457.html
[edit] - I forgot to say, that's not my LJ. XD
I also posted a thread at GameFAQs about the fun'iki genre of video games.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genme...topic=50325554
Like I said, I'm not saying that gameplay is unimportant, but to really enjoy a game despite the aspects a game falls short (in this case, a solid battle system), you would have to understand what kind of game it is, what exactly were the developers aiming for, etc, especially in a game where they took the art direction very seriously.