I finished it about 3 weeks ago now, I played for about 64 hrs I think. I would class it as very long rather then very good, so I think Insanolord made the right decision. (Just to be clear, it's not that I hate this game, but if you don't want to play for 50 hrs + this isn't for you).
I think the reviews are fair as their is a lot about the game that could be improved. I found the story frustrating, at it's core I liked the discussion of whether history is pre ordained or not and how human beings should respond to their understanding of that issue. But the telling of the story was laden with Techno Babble which I found almost impenetrable, often going back tot he log book after a cut scene to see what it was I actually supposed to be doing. And I got sick of all the skits too. I felt that most of them didn't drive the story forward or develop the characters very much, they was a lot of pointless exposition and a heck of a lot of Anime tropes.
Also I felt that the game was weighed down with too many techniques and systems like cores and cookery, etc. By the half way point I just ignored all of that had no trouble finishing the game with out giving them any attention because it's really very easy with the exception of a couple of boss battles.
But despite all it's many faults I really enjoyed myself. What I liked were the world, the design, the characters and the dungeons. I don't use the 3D much on my system but I was often cranking it up in new locations so I could better enjoy the look and feel of the cities and the gateways. I found Luke's rudeness and the way the other characters responded to him genuinely funny and now that I am playing other games I find myself missing my party. Not that I will play through it again though, but I will hit up the FMVs on youtube when I feel the need.
So yeah, I enjoyed my time with this game, I'm glad I played it was far from being a master piece and I'm done now.
This was my first Tales game and whilst I did really enjoy it some of the frustrations I had have put me off trying other games in the series. There are so many "classic" JPGs that I haven't played (I'm yet to play a DQ or FF title and still haven't tried Chrono Trigger) so I intend to shop around until I find a dev or a series that really clicks with me.
I would love to see more JRPGs coming to Europe for the 3DS. Anybody know if Code of Princess has a European release date confirm yet?