It was a nice game overall. I did feel like things were very much rushed over towards the end of the game though. Before and after the final battle, there was just too much information to absorb, not to mention not enough explanation of this information. Though the database helps, it doesn't help enough.

I'm almost finished with my second time through the game and feel I understand things a little better but there are still many questions that need to be answered. Of course, I can't help but blame most of this on Episode II since things that were supposed to happen in that game end up happening in Episode III. Plus, like ed said, it feels like we missed an entire episode.

Despite these faults, it is my second favorite game in the trilogy. The battles are fun yet challenging (assuming you don't bother with Heaven's Door and Erde Kaiser Sigma). The ES battles are much closer to the way they should've been from the beginning. My only beef is the lack of Ether attacks while using the ES's. For once, I actually enjoyed the in-game music as well. It wasn't obnoxious like Episode II.

Overall, I'm happy with the game and welcome it as a finish to the story. Of course, I certainly wouldn't be bothered if they decided to continue the story with a different story arc.