Well it's too late for that. I mean I already bought a full japanese copy that is even more expensive than the english one I preordered.

I also preordered the Piggyback Guide so at least I will have a nice read if the game fails completely.^^'

Too early for me to say, but yeah, I know just what you mean. Stepping into Gran Pulse for the first time was pretty breathtaking. The variety of areas seems like it should be there for LR, too, but I haven't had "that moment" yet.

If you've liked the garbage that SE has been putting out these past few years, sure, play it.

Because people who played Final Fantasy 13 didn't get on their knees and praise Final Fantasy 13 and 13-2 they're pseudo Final Fantasy fans?  There's a difference between fandom and obsession.    I'm a Final Fantasy fan but I'm not going to blindly throw praise out because of it.

Aside from that, here's what I gathered from the demo.

You can move around, some enemies will follow to attack you and you can even avoid some attacks that way, but it's not required.  If you wanted to play Lightning Returns as a regular RPG and stand in a single spot doing your actions then it can be done.  Lightning will dash up to the opponent if it's a melee attack or jump back if it's a magic attack.  So moving around really does little.

Combat I felt was alright, far more enjoyable than Final Fantasy 13 and 13-2 but it just seems going through the motions.  Start as one class and use attacks that increase but slow staggerr, switch to a second class, and then switch to a third class with a powerful stagger like Beat Down/Jump.  By that time I broke the boss, I went back to the first class and the second class, did the same, went to the third class, did the same, then went into the Overdrive. 

Other bosses will be different but the whole process is too repetitive.  I've also thought about the whole 50+ garbs.  When playing the demo, I thought that there was really no reason to play as any of the other classes than the ones with the best stats and best locked abilities that you preferred.  Skills aren't leveled up by fighting with certain garbs equipped and any skill that isn't locked can be switched to any other garb.  Choose your three favorites and your favorite skills and stick to them.  So unlike the traditional Final Fantasy class system, the whole changing garb mechanic isn't as in depth as it seemed to be prior to its release.  It makes Lightning Returns less an RPG and more a action adventure that plays similar to an RPG.

*edit*

Honestly I agree with BxN's comment.  If you've liked the garbage they've released the past few years, and you've stated you've never disliked a Final Fantasy game then you'll probably like Lightning Returns.

I'm about 10 hours in, I can't say it's as good as XIII-2, but then again, you think XIII is better than XIII-2 so I'm not sure what to tell you.

Cheap-o!!!

How do you think Square's going to pay for plumbing? They need your money!!!! IN FULL!

And pretty much that is why LR is a much bigger change to the series than XIII was.

Even though it doesn't improve my outlook on the game I am more motivated now to enjoy it, just to prove that change doesn't affect my love for the series as much as it did other's.

That's just blind devotion.  You should care about change because it's a good game, not to say "I'm more of a fan than you are" or reassure yourself that you're still a fan of the series.  Breath of Fire 5, Wild ARMs 4, Mega Man Legends,  Castlevania 2, etc.  They all introduced major changes into their respective series, but I enjoyed the games because they were good, not necessarily because I'm a fan of the series.  Even Dirge of Cerberus is a good game and that's the biggest change Final Fantasy has seen.  Despite what people say about it, it's a great game.  It receives a lot of hate because it's a Final Fantasy title that's completely different than the rest of the series rather than a low quality title.

That is true, I only gave them $40 for that one xD

Oh, it finally came today!!!!!!!! Probably won't play until 2015, damn classes :(

It's not really blind devotion. It's apparently just very rare for a person to like both FFIX and FFXIII equally. 2 games which are fundamentally very different but share the same base. They still have the core elements that unite them because I like them for similar reasons. There is a lot more to FF than just gameplay. That's why Dirge ,and FFCC for that matter, are still enjoyable even though they are completely different games. It also helps that they are not main line FF and don't really have to hold up standards.

I'm just afraid of LR because I'm not really seeing the base line anymore. It looks as if the common things are only in name anymore. I probably would like it as a game more if it weren't a main game and connected to the Lightning Saga.

I realize though that people have said the same things about other FF games so I'm going to chalk this up to my hysteria. It just seems so much more severe when even a devotee like me has serious doubts.