Example of the Burning Site system. The Combination Guard system is a very welcome addition to the SRPG genre. Since players are usually taught not to bunch up their troops in fear of area attack skills, or spells, now you can have the option to boost up your own defense by gathering allied troops together. The system works by any allied character within 1 square of each other adds a defensive bonus, so the more allies gathered around the higher the bonus. This is a highly welcomed feature due to the fact that with it helps allies take less damage when facing the larger enemies such as dragons or golems. Also its a godsend for the casters of the party to get that little extra defensive boost.

Example of the Connection Guard system. Jeanne and the other holders of the bracelets are able to transform themselves into a powered up holy knight that changes their appearance. The transformation is regulated by a power gauge that is represented by little glowing orbs in those who can transforms status window. The more enemies you defeat the more powered up it becomes. While in the holy knight form they are able to do more damage and move farther, also what makes it the most useful is the fact that once you defeat an enemy in the form you get another free action. So as long as you can kill enemies you can keep moving around the map. This will be crucial later on when overwhelmed by enemy troops.
The movement to towns, and areas is all done by an overhead view of a world map, similar to the one seen in Final Fantasy Tactics. But what is nice here is that the world map is beautifully drawn and laid out with vivid colors. Along the map the areas where players can partake in Free Battles to level up their characters will also change, depending on how far they have advanced in the story. Shops can usually be found in most towns along the way also.

Looks great eh? The battles in game are your standard fare for an SRPG, moving by grids, elevation bonus for defense or attack, also bonus for attacking or being attacked from the sides or behind. The stages themselves are very well done with beautiful graphics. Also in the stages unlike previous SRPGs the hidden items are shown on the map when a player character is close to the spot. It will appear as little golden sparkles on the ground. This is a great feature so it doesnt cause players to waste turns wandering aimlessly looking for hidden treasure, although that was a fun part of some other SRPGs such as Tactics Ogre. One thing that might turn off some players is the fact that all battles have a turn limit displayed in the upper right corner of the screen. If the player goes over this turn limit its game over. But rarely does this happen so it should not be too much of a problem I think, although it is annoying.
What is nice about this games battle system is, the fact that since the enemies do not level up along with you like Final Fantasy Tactics, it allows for the more casual player to enjoy just going through the story and not have to worry about level grinding. Perhaps one of the best features that seems, to be a Level5 trademark is the fact that characters even out of battle will gain a percentage of the exp gained from battle. This was also the case for Rogue Galaxy So even though you are not always able to bring everyone into battle with you, fear not since they will be getting exp from the after battle exp bonus. This is totally cool since later on you have so many characters it would have made leveling each one up a slight hassle.