Great audio-visual, better writing needed.
The battle mechanics are back, and it's what I enjoy most about this series. Freed from choosing mundane tactics, you can concentrate on strategy instead. Now, you get to tame monsters and develop them too. It's quite a lot of management if you want to get into it, but I beat the game without needing to grind my monsters or even spend a lot of time getting equipment.
For those who like to complete everything, there's still a lot to do even after beating the final boss. You can collect weapons, endings and fragments that unlock more abilities in the game. All this you can do while in the middle of the main game (there's no hurry after all, you have all the time in the world.).
The writing has improved, and the drama is a little more subtle this time round. However, the conversations still feel a little long-winded and empty. Games like Mass Effect or Dragon Age add to their characters with every line that is spoken. Very few words are wasted. With this incarnation, the characters are still very one dimensional and flat.