Playability? Well, lets start with the battle system. Real-time. That's right, this game, like it's predicessor Tales (and Star Ocean) games, breaks from the old fashioned pause-menu-menu-command-action-repeat formula. However, the goodness of ToP, SO, and SO2, has been streamlined and fleshed out. Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan) and VII (with their timed menus (waiting in realtime before the menu reappears) just can't compare to it.

By moving a particular character into the top slot in the character list, you can take direct control of that character in battle, from an option on the Techniques list.