There's enough in Hand of the Heavenly Bride that's different, or at least that differentiates itself from 'modern' RPGs, to make it worthwhile to fans of the genre. Slight tweaks to the story, mechanics and gameplay provide an interesting experience that takes place across significant chunks of time and space.
If you're looking for a casual gateway-drug style game to ease you into the genre then this may not fit, but it's not so 'hardcore' as to be inaccessible: if you can kill a slime, then you can play this game. Slight annoyances aside, it's a good game made better by its portable format, and is a good example of what the DS should be used for.
