<OL start="5">[*]I don't know what you mean by "hardcore"[*]Depends on who you choose, some stories are long, some are short, some are easy, some are very hard.[*]Battles happen in 3D like most other playstation RPGs and they are random battles, however, you use luck reels which basically, if you get lucky you will do critical hits, if not you will do normal hits or below normal hits. Sort of hard to explain but easy to understand the minute you do it.[*]I don't believe in video game reviews which are on a point system because I've played 99.8/100s and thought they were pure crap while I've played people's 0.01/100 and loved every second of them. If you really want a number on how I value the game personally I would say... 80/100