Seriously.  Tabata is a blatant man indeed.  That's not without its charm though, he's a very straightforward kind of guy and he usually gets to the point.

Some people don't know when they are getting too old for their job...

Reading the interviews, it sounded like you just had to press the button as long as you want then your character dodge all the attacks coming , and this is how everyone everywhere understood them

I guess this is it, XV will be the last nail in the coffin that XIII built.

Seems to be both. Tap the button to dodge, hold the button for a "defence stance". I'd imagine tapping is much more practical while you're in the middle of battle. While you are in the defence stance you can still run around, I think the purpose of this is to give you the ability to move to a better position in the field or to flee.

that is a bit worrying. that demo is going to be crucial.

Well, you dont need to flee if you can dodge everything, unless you cant beat  a too powerful ennemy.

Maybe this is like i thought then : Hold the button works only for little ennemies, but for big ennemies, you have to tap it to doge.

I just want the atb back.

You would need to flee if you ran out of MP and recovery items for example. Besides, after dodging you would probably want to attack immediately, you would be only wasting your time by holding the button. Really it is not a big deal.

Other useful way to used it is at the start of battle (like in the footage) so you would get to know your enemies better, how they attack and how fast.

I am not worried if we will have a vast world to explore, with many collectibles and secrets.