I am playing this right now. I am on the third tower now, and it's pretty good. The timer is a lot more lenient than I thought it would be. It will be a while yet before I can get a hand on how much damage my character is outputting since there are no number popups.
Also, could someone merge this thread into
this one?
Edit:
Beat the game. Got the best ending. I really felt a connection with Elena and was pained every time the meter got low. Much better then The Last Story, but not Xenoblade-level.