Nice read, I think what I've read has upped my anticipation over the course of the week. My biggest worry is the 'other stuff', the side quests and whatnot. I know this game has lots and lots of monster hunts, and I understand they can get pretty dam intense, but if that's it I'll be slightly let down.
Do you know if you'll have to do all of them for the platinum? I'm a bit of a trophey whore and it'll make my life determination to kill all the hunts alot more significient if theres a platinum in it for me :P.