I have updated the OP with more info taken from the patent. I wonder if after seeing those you would still think this isn't a near accurate explanation of how the combat system will work. Especially considering that patent was filed this month.

So rather than being about enemies taking forever to kill, this is about executing single commands instantly. That's modestly better, but it still kicks the player out of direct control and undermines the action-feel S-E is going for.

The problem is that this teeters dangerously close to XIII's automated combat. FF games inherited a clunky UI, and rather than properly streamlining it--like they should--they automate it and kick the player out of the gameplay. No, you make good games by forcing the player to make choices on what spells and abilities they equip. This is called "opportunity cost." If you don't have the right stuff equipped somewhere in your party you deserve the game over, or at least be defenseless while you have to menu-surf in the middle of a fight. It works quite well in Dark Souls. I don't see a reason why it couldn't work in Final Fantasy.

I gotta disagree. The Gambit system worked really well for me. It allowed me to personalize the fighting style of my party members to my own. It also help cut down on all the goddamn potion wasting that teammates would do (I'm looking at you, Kingdom Hearts) and other little nuisances like that. A gambit system is welcome in a action-oriented RPG, where your main focus is your protagonist (or whoever you are controlling at the time) with your teammates acting accordingly.

At the very least, he is aware of long time fans becoming frustrated with simplistic combat, so it gives me hope they will find a way to make both groups happy.

If it is similar to FF12 I'd be happy. I really enjoyed that game, but I seem to be in the minority.

This all i have to say about that SHIT. Look! squares battle system that cheetah just made!

Just kill the series if this is what your going to do with it square.

Well, to each his own. I hope FFXV's battle system is an "easy to pick up, difficult to master" type of system, but I'm not holding my breath.

I hear, that's the feeling I get with Dissidia during my long periods of time playing it. Gotta say, all these snippets of information sound disjointed and don't make me very confident in the end result. Like i've said before, that demo is going to make or break this long awaited game. I still have hope though.

I'm a part of the same minority myself, I loved FFXII; the characters (save for Vaan...), the world, the transport, the level design, the enemies and even the story!

FFXII was real-time/turn-based mix done right.

Same here, FF12 was actually my best FF game. I guess I am also weird cause I preferred FF8 to FF7 and felt FF9 was too much like FF7. I didn't like FF10 mostly cause I hated Tidus and I felt the series needed a change. Which was probably why FF12 appealed to me so much.

I don't understand what people have against the gambit system though. If anything the problem I had with gambits in FF12 was that it wasn't deep enough and I still had to go in to micromanage stuff. The whole points of gambits are that they allow you set instructions (or give commands) for all your party members in advance so you don't have to do it during a fight. And this could be used in ingenious ways if done right.

Eg. Your party is taking on damage quickly and you start frantically trying to cast cure on everyone, which in turn makes you lose 3 or 4, setting a gambit so an ally casts cure on anyone that their HP is around 30% means you never have to worry about that in a fight, and you can concentrate on just manually casting haste on that particular ally since he is your main support ally. You could even take that a step further and have him auto cast haste on himself and you at the start of the fight.

I think if they expand on the gambit system as much as they could this would add a whole new layer of strategy to the game, and from all indications it seems that exactly what they are trying to do.

Based on the last tidbit in the OP and on this particular patent, would I be correct in saying that the system can be used like BOTH the gambit system and real time combat?

So if you wanted to fight manually (especially including the character you're controlling) you can and if you want your characters to have automated actions (including the current controllable character) you can as well?