I am about the same place as mr.stickball (Keiv Moc) and am loving the game.
Having come from FFXII, a game that destroyed my faith in JRPG, this is amazing. There´s nothing ground-breaking about it, but they are done very well, and more importantly, you CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS, which is something that Square doesn´t seem to be able to do anymore.
I agree with Yuri being a good break from the usual androgynous male blond annoying kid.
P.S - I am too enjoying the hell out of the battle system. I´m 15 hours and there´s still new things to learn, bigger combos to try.
EDIT - @munkeh - I didn´t care about that anime style too, but am really enjoying in this game









