Y'know, I was surprised at how much they revealed in the new trailer. Square-Enix isn't always known for showing everything all at once. I guess they had to do it after the fans got upset. Well, I glad that they're making me happy.

I do find it funny that the main new features in that trailer are standard RPG features and Quick Time Events, and I'm someone who enjoyed Final Fantasy 13. I also enjoyed the cast from that game too, and I'm a bit worried that Serah and the new guy will end up being a generic RPG boy and girl like Hope and Vanille were in the original. Hopefully things will turn out all right.

I hated FFXIII, and, I'm not trying to be a douche here, but that trailer pretty much highlighted alot of the problems with JRPGs. They're too complicated. I played FFXIII to completion, and I got lost about halfway through the video. I have no idea what they're talking about anymore. There's a clock before you enter battle now? And now this clock arbitrarliy determines whether or not you can hit 'Retry' if you die, or if you have to reload a save, possibly loosing hours of work?  And they're ditching all of the characters for 1 character I don't like, 1 character I probably won't like, and a Pokemon-esque monster system? Really?

My biggest complaint with FFXIII was the story and characters. I liked the battle system, and oddly enough, I wasn't really bothered with the linearity of the game, or the lack of towns and NPCs. After all, NPCs only have one or two lines of repeating dialogue, and after years of playing JRPGs, I ignore all of them anyway. So adding in towns with NPCs and sidequests doesn't really entice me, and the changes to the battle system seem slightly arbitrary and bothersome (QTEs need to be banned from gaming). Color me unimpressed.

Also, according to the character list at 3:20 in the video, Cait Sith is in the game.

I'm thinking that FFXIII-2 will definately be an improvement over the original.  Most of all, I'm excited to see what sort of character Caius is, and how he fits into the game's mythos. 

I'm sort of afraid that FFXIII-2 may bring along its own host of problems with all of its new additions though.  Some of the games new features don't seem to be particularly worthwhile.  In particular, I don't think that having multiple story options in a FF title is that necessary (if it isn't outright detrimental).  I know that I definately remember more game stories that are structured and static than ones that can change based on dialogue and have "non-canon" consequences that are explorable.  But that is just me.  

Anyhow, I'm eager to see how it all plays out come this January 31st. 

I don't know how I feel about this sequel. The original XIII wrapped things up quite nicely, and I can't think of any way they could extend the story without ruining the few things that made the story so great. It's a lot like X-2, in fact.

Then again, I do like how Square Enix is at least trying to remedy the faults of the original.

I liked FF 8 and 9 in spite of their card games, not because of them. Do you know how frustrating it is to realize you spread the "random" rule to every region in the game? I want depth in an RPG, but not from a seemingly shoehorned-in minigame.

Anyway, this one is going to be a wait-and-see type dealie for me. If I get to do something besides run in a straight line, it might be worth looking into.