Best series mash-up yet.
The new fighting style and technique is somewhat unique to the first game. Having a team of skilled fighters as well as a backup is just what we need to be defeat bosses like Chaos. It brings out a chance to defeat the enemy if you failed the first time, or the second, or third and fourth. But, by that time, you should have kicked butt. It is a great opportunity for trail and error.
The new characters are well played. Although there was the disappointing moment finding out characters like Zach, Yufi and Vincent [yes, I'm a FF7 fan (; ] weren't in it, I was surprised at how they made the other characters. There seemed to be a lot of melee going on. There are only two characters out of the possible 7 that can fight close-long range. Out of one of those two characters, only one was decent enough to play. The character that did catch my eye though was Lightning; with her ability to switch between three classes. Although this can be difficult at times, I find it gives a real edge to the battle, versing as or against her. Depending if you've reversed the order of which the classes rotate, you can go for a close range attack [which can be risky] then quickly go to medic stance, flee, then heal your bravery [if it hasn't already recharged].
The board of which you do your quests on is a lot more animated, and I like that. I love how you can also travel between boards in the worldly perspective, like you would in 3D RPG games like Skyrim. There are new items to be found and there are even moogles who appear and sell items for a limited time, as well as summons and other useful items.
The new extra features, like creating your own quests, is the most unique thing I've seen in a while. This gives you the opportunity to use your imagination, like say, making Cloud and Tifa fight side by side, eventually leading to a kiss of intense passion. Of course, you can't make videos for it, but dialogue is better than nothing.
The new outfits are stunning and bizarre, as you can only unlock them in the PSN shop. It seems a bit unfair, but then again, I'd pay to see Kuja in a pirate outfit, or see Cloud and Sephiroth fight in their Kingdom Hearts gear. You can also unlock content, like an outfit for Lightning, which is unlocked by buying the shooter game 'The 3rd Birthday'. Again, this is granted by using the code in the PSN shop.
Again with the PSN shop, you can buy the prologus, which is a short quest that unlocks Aerith as an assist character. This is very useful. Aerith's attacks can either give you strength or hit the enemy without a problem. The bravery attacks, however, heal you and such. She is needed if you're going to be in any serious hardcore gameplay. [Like unlocking Feral Chaos, he's hard to unlock!]
Other than that, there's still all the Characters from the first game, still the same shop, has the calendar that gives you bonuses, the chocobos that find chests, they're all still there. I'm pleased to say I'm giving this game a high score of 9.5. :)