It's no surprise that the Japanese version came with a giant guide, because trying to play this was like playing a tabletop RPG with a game master who wouldn't let you read the rules.
Possibly the worst game I have ever played. I remember going into Gamestation as a young boy wanting to buy FFX but it was out of stock, the guy recommended this.
I guess the best thing you could say is that Akitoshi Kawazu probably had a lot of fun experimenting with gameplay systems when he was designing this game.
