Allright, first impressions. I started off in the spoiler tag thread, but decided I might as well make a new one and copypaste:
Oh, and first impression on FFXIII? Gods it's longwinded, and actually kind of boring. I keep hearing it starts to rock further in, but after playing 10+ hours now, I have to say they could have condensed that gameplay to less than half of that. And where's the RP part of the game? I haven't made a single decision yet. Just ran from cutscene to cutscene, killing stuff along the way. At least there were conversation options in FFVII and FFVIII. Hell, I think there were some in FFX too.
They really should have worked better on the FFXIII pacing and storytelling.
As for the character development bit, I almost max out all available 'skilltrees' before more is unlocked anyway. It's not character development, it's just... well, it grows stronger as I fight. No real choice in the matter.
And what's with the Eidolons? They suck! I summoned Odin for a bossfight, and he barely touched the boss. I have to say, the combat gameplay in general was enjoyable compared to the travesty that was FFXII, but I much preferred the summoning in FFVII and FFVIII. Hell, even FFX.
Edit:
I have to say, though, the characters are more enjoyable. The main character isn't a whiny little bitch anymore. She's a tough and gnarly bitch instead. I have to say I hate Hope, though. Gods what a pathetic little runt. And Snow? Come on, couldn't he have been a little less cliché 'Imma hero!' character? I do like Sazh for the moment, though. Mature and relatively decently rounded 'old man' character. Vanille? Well... too stereotype 'giggly' girl. And never... ever... say 'let's drink every time she sighs, moans or giggles' or half of one cutscene will kill you.
Still, it's the first time I've actually liked the main character in a Final Fantasy game.