That 'stealth' segment was...something.
So far I can see what they were going for but it seems very uneven and full of some weird design. First off, you get absolutely bombarded by voice overs from Hope right from the start. Yet it's being interrupted via frequent fights, or when you get into town can just get cutoff by another thing he's saying. The only remedy for this is to stand still to listen to what's being said, which is at odds with the time system. Then there's just general NPC behavior, which has awkward pathfinding and actually can butt in during conversations. Seeing a cutscene where it's slightly zoomed in to someone talking to you as some random person walks right into him and spazzes out for a few seconds probably shouldn't happen! It, coupled with the very poor texture quality(which you get some shockingly close looks at while talking), do a number on detracting from the world.
Then there's the sidequests, which as the last page went over a lot, doesn't show where to go on the map. Okay in theory, but again, there's a time limit and burning it looking for something isn't very fun especially when it's necessary for time extensions and leveling in general. But I see where they were going, since you initially go into an area, bring up the map and see nothing. It's not until you explore and find stores, merchants, time doors, etc. where it starts getting filled out. Why they didn't add notifications for side stuff with that I'm not sure.
Combat has been interesting enough. Luckily I have found some pretty good looking costumes as I really wasn't liking what I was seeing pre-release, and I personally can't stand her default in this game. The one you get from XIII-2 is pretty ridiculous for the start, though. I'm a little confused on filling out the moves but it seems to randomly drop from enemies and be in random chests littering the world.
Still not all that far(second day) but that's my initial rambling.
