I liked parts of this game. But as with nearly all JRPGs I have played, the random "battles" became annoying very quickly. Its not fun to get interrupted on your way to something by a million randos.
The story wasn't very good IMO. I mean, it was better than a lot of other racing game story modes, but it still wasn't spectacular. Need for Speed Undergound 2, for example, had a better story IMO, because it knew when to get out of the way and let you play the game.