i just beat the desert dungeon and am in gasara -- the desert ruins starts to up the difficulty a bit, with enemies that take certain actions based on the bravura/unity skills you use and the other foes in their group you attack. i'm enjoying the game a lot, don't get me wrong, but after the wild arms games and the grandia games, i'd like to be able to branch off the main arc a bit and take a few risks.
it's a great handheld rpg, but on a console it'd be merely good. it definitely spanks anything rpg-related on the ds/psp at the moment, save maybe tales of the world (which is a different experience altogether).