Well, it's good to see some more people posting here now! There were three (I think) DS forums here before, but they melted them down and reincarnated them into these two new ones. I seem to have lost my registration through that time too, but oh well. Probably 'cause it unfortunately never got used much here....
Anyways...
a few clarifications and answers for ya:
There are a few things you do before you jump into the game. These are picking a name for your primary character, as well as their gender, hair, shirt, face, and pants. The next screen asks difficulty (Easy, Medium, or Hard). And then you're off on your adventure, no load times other than the first one as promised.
It's one thing to hear about having no load times, but it's another to be playing (E3 2001) and realize you haven't had to load since you started.
Way way way way back, it was planned that you would either select a sword, a bow, or a magic scroll at the beginning. However, I guess that sort of took you a little out of the game, and currently, you are automatically equipped with (I think) a pitchfork (you are a farmer at the beginning after all), but you will have access to a bow, a Nature Magic spell, and a Combat Magic spell within the first few yards of your house.
As for the system requirements... well... hmm... that may come as a bit of a shock.
But a good one.
The low end for DS will probably be a PII 300mhz with a Voodoo 3 video card. And according to the devs, it still looks great on machines of that caliber. (Some unneccessary details like dynamic shadows, and bushes and grass should of course be turned off on those machines.)
Also, in case you hadn't heard, the new release date has been announced: April 2002.