I'm currently playing it. It's a turn based RPG, but it masks it very well behind the menus and the freedom of movement.
Basically in combat you can bait an enemy from a mass towards you, or run in and pick a fight (if they do not already.) There is no load in, it's right there. You only control the lead directly most the time. You can run wherever you like as the fight goes. You'll end up with a set of moves (eventually more than you can use so you pick your favorites.) As the seconds tick along your guy will strike automatically like in a turn based RPG. At any time though you can queue up in the menu one of those special moves and you'll do that, or you can queue up a special from your Monado blade to help you/others out, or thirdly when the bar fills over time you can control all 3 on the spot with a chain attack choosing which thing each of the 3 in the team does. All the while the monster will attack as its turn comes up just like a normal RPG. Because you have the freedom of movement, some of your strikes work best close, distant, side, or from the back for maximum effect which adds some strategy to it.
I hope that makes enough sense. I held off never buying this on Wii as I got so sickened by the systems handling I knew I wouldn't play it, but now that it's portable I hit it like 3x a week for a couple hours or more in bed in the evening on average and I'm at least looking at a faq online 1/2 through the game maybe. I don't do all the weird sidequests, but the ones that pop up and are done as I level up or go from A-B I make sure to do so I have like 2/3 of them down.
