Now I, too, have Minstrel's Song.
I still have yet to resume RS3-- keep telling myself I'll do it before bed, but then I end up too tired or too tormented by agonizing headaches to touch it. Anyways, I put in a good 4 or so hours into Minstrel's Song today, using Jamil as my main. I think when I played (what little I did of) the SNES version, I started out with Sif. Right away I noticed some huge differences from the original game and the remake-- and also some similarities between Minstrel's Song and the unimported SaGa 2 & 3 DS remakes. The cursor sfx is largely similar, and so too are some elements of the battle system. I'm enjoying the painterly effect and the soundtrack so far, and Jamil is cute as a button. I actually had to replay the first half hour because I got myself killed in the catacombs in Estamir Tunnels. Whoops! But that's ok, it gave me more time to get used to the field mechanics before setting out beyond Estamir.
I got a couple quests done (Yassi Cavern and Saoki Cavern) and did some exploring around the Kjarat, Frontier, Rosalia and Dry Lands regions before I remembered I have a freaking comic to work on. I'm already thinking ahead even out of game, considering what I need to do to get to some currently inaccessible treasure chests and climbable spots. My gameplan is to move on to the Crystal Lake and Mt. Scurve quests that I opened up in Crystal City, then use the jewels I acquire from them to increase Jamil's Survival skills so that he can climb to inaccessible places and open "invisible" chests I noted in previous dungeons. I also desperately want to increase Hawke's axe proficiency so that he can be more useful in battle without draining DP from his weapons. So... yeah. I need all the Jewels I can get.
So far I seem to be enjoying the party I've got. Aside from the aforementioned Jamil and Hawke, I have Barbara and Myriam, and of course the Minstrel. They're all very stable combatants, though I have my eye on Guella Ha. I dunno, there's just something wonderful about that character's appearance and I get the feeling he'd be an awesome addition to the party... but I'd have to cough someone up.
Anyway, good stuff, man. Eager to play more.