After finishing the game, here's my in-depth review. Read it, rate it, and decide if it's right for you.
Story (minor spoilers on theme of game):
Square's always been known for revolutionary stories, especially the FF series. I still, to this day, haven't found a story so deep as in Xenogears, FF III, FFVII to name a few. I was hoping this game would revive the series, but the plot in this game offers nothing new. Genocide, a poorly developed love story, religion (though dumbed down when you compare it to Xenogears), and family bonds are some of the themes. It seems the major focus of the plot is "fate" and "friendship". The story is told for ~35 hours until you are free to roam and let the gameplay take over. Then it lacks story until you are ready to face the game's end, which is utterly disappointing. There's not even a scene after the credits. On a positive note, there is a system that allows you to read (at your own discretion, similar to Lost Odyssey) more on the plot. Characters, places, events, etc. are all laid out in a nicely designed menu so you can refresh or learn more about the story you are playing through. It was a nice touch to prevent confusion.
Gameplay:
It's the good old ATB with a twist. The game adds Paradigms which allow 3 players to each have a specific class in battle. You can switch these classes in battle, but not before each character has to dance (yes, dance) while the enemy pounds on you in the interim. While for most of the game this is not a problem, it becomes annoying when you face off against the optional side bosses and you need to change on the fly, instead waiting til the character finishes their unnecessary motions to play again. You can get around this by timing your switches while suspended in mid air or after taking a major attack.
The class list is feeble and gives an illusion of customization, although each character is clearly good at one or 2 roles. Later in the game, you can branch out in a system similar to FFX's sphere grid, using points to move along the grid. Some characters have specific abilities that others don't and you use these in particular boss battles, but it's pretty pathetic in terms of character development.
Weapon/Item customization is also a very weak department. You use materials to "level up" items, and only towards the end of the game does it become useful. Any time before that is a waste of materials.
Yes, the game is linear for the first 35 hours or so. This was a good thing for me personally, as when I finally did get the freedom to roam I was very sick of it after 15 hours and still only 75% done with side quests. I would have much preferred integrating the plot with side quests along the whole ride rather than bunch it up after laying most of the story down, but eh.
Visuals:
The redeeming quality of the game is that it looks fantastic beginning to end. It was truly stunning, although the content I was looking at was average at best =( At least there's a template for the next game's story.
Sound:
5.1 Dolby was great. The music was well done. Towards the end, it was at it's finest moment. Throughout the game, some pieces were really touching, and others just didn't feel right. I have to say that there was a recycling of song themes that was just too obvious and did get annoying after a while.
Character voices were all done very well. People have commented many times on Hope and Vanille, but I didn't find them as annoying as everyone made them out to be. I thought their voices fit their roles throughout the game.
Overall:
Pro's - Great visual and sound presentation, interesting (but very flawed) battle system, a story that was touching at brief moments throughout the game. Great section that provides synopsis of plot as game progresses.
Cons - The story falls short as a whole, and doesn't deliver powerful moments as it's predecessors did. Character development is poor. You'll get bored grinding out 15 hours of side quest and then mastering all the characters' class roles for another 15-30 hours. Weapon customization is very dry and isn't useful until you are at the end of the game.