I need to qualify this statement a bit, as I played this game with my somewhat young kids (6-9 years of age). I would play for the most part, but we would all read the story and join in directing what to do.
This was singularly one of the best video game experiences I've ever had (and I've been playing Nintendo as long as there's been Nintendo!). We all loved it. The story, the writing, the art, the exploration, the toads.
About the only thing that we didn't LOVE, love was the battles. The boss battles are very cool, but the routine battles do get a little..... routine. It's not nearly as bad as a lot of reviews make it out to be.
So to sum up, if you have some kids you want to play a game with, I'd highly recommend this one. It got them interested in oragami, too!