So I was tired of waiting for Vagrant Story to appear on the North American PSN, and so utterly disappointed when I found a copy that was more than I was willing to pay at the local flea market (the first one I've seen there in years of searching) that I grabbed a copy on Ebay.

It's here in the house now but I won't have the chance to play it until the weekend. As I understand it's a fairly complex game I figured I'd ask the good people here, what should I know going into this game so I don't screw myself over or suffer unduly from being an ignorant sloth whose ten years late to the party?

Also, feel free to discuss the awesomeness of this game (it's by Matsuno, so I naturally assume it is great).