The last thing we need is yet another over-gory clone of Planescape:Torment.

I think the series needs to re-evaluate it's values. The series called Final Fantasy today is barely a semblance of what it was in Nes, Snes, and to a lesser extent PS days. Of course, they won't due that because the Final Fantasy we have now pulls in more cash.

Define mature please.

Do you mean more guns and explosives? And perhaps blood?

WTH, is there a "make a FFXIII-related FAIL thread" competition running that I've not heard of? It just gets more and more stupid...
If it's anything (imo) FF needs, it is going back to its roots, to the FF I once loved.

no, no thanks.

You can spin that around the same way and say that JRPGs are the typical boring run of the mill story of the boy that is so angry at life, full of angst yet he falls in love with the girl but never tells her cuz he's realy shy yet both are in love with each other but she is waiting for him to make the first move but again he is sooooo shy for some reason even tho he is the only one that looks fairly normal except for his HUGE spikey hair! Oh, and the final boss is so ridiculous hard that you have to go back and do mindless grinding in one specific area cuz there's no experience worth anywhere else in the world!

As much as I don't like it, Final Fantasy seems to appeal most to its fans when it is trying to alter itself more and more. Trying to create an entirely new game engine, setting and story from the ground up.

Sadly, it doesn't look like FFXIII is doing that much. Every new announcement and every new image just looks like they're trying to do something from the past games, but with a new coat of paint. I'm not surprised when a new person comes out and feels a little annoyed or even mad with how FFXIII is turning out, because it does just look like a conglomeration of FFVII, VIII and XII all mixed together with new characters and names.

However, to keep using this excuse of 'oh JPOP and Japanese culture sucks' to get angry at the game is just getting sad. What do you think created the game for the last 20 years? What do you think the game is heavily INFLUENCED by? Try doing some research people.

So we have people & blogs saying FF13 is breaking FF tradition & is too different

on the other hand we have people saying its the same style & basically a recycled FF8, FF7 & FF10 (which happen to be the popular ones...don';t blame them for going back to  that style)

then we have people saying it should go back to its roots ala, FF9, FF1 - FF4 & so on (Of which FF9 & FF12 {medieval setting wise anyway} in a way did & both underperformed compared to FF8,7,10....even though other factors played a role here)

I can't help but be confused here

Maybe we should all just take comfort in the fact that most FF 'fans' end up buying the game reguardless of how it turns out.  But the problem is, FF 'fans' have been dwindling.  Its not like a series such as Dragon Quest, which has had stable fans for 20 years, or Persona or Tales, which have been gaining fans since its conception.  Final Fantasy has actually been losing fans ever since FFVIII.  It needs to find its identity again and try to gain new fans.  Plus, there's always the argument that its just saturated itself so much that people are losing interest in the series (something like 45 games in the last 4 years would make even the most ardent FF fan get a little weary of the series).

But as for how FFXIII is really going to compare to the previous games, we'll probably just going to have to see.  That's just how it looks to me.  From looking at all the battle system, characters and etc.  Perhaps when you weigh the storyline and setting, it might be very different.  But to me, the core of a good RPG is the gameplay and characters...so if they're more of less recycled from the previous entries, I feel fans might feel a little cheated, as Final Fantasy's major draw is its progession and always trying to change its battle engine/characters in every entry.