Here's a sample, the links are below:                            (hold Ctrl and press + or  - to enlarge or decrease viewing size)
   
  
 
 Official PlayStation Magazine UK Review (4)   

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Thanks, I've been waiting for a review of the English version for a while, off to read.

Added some inactive links for easy cutting.  
 
Enjoy, it's a good read.

This right here decided for me that I will not be buying, or playing FFXIII ever (unless I receive it as a gift):
 

Combat is fast and unrelenting...
... demanding more concentration and fast-twitch muscle fibres (sic) than any other Final Fantasy, an unseen but constantly counting-down timer forcing you to flick between formations...

Cant wait.

They really know their stuff, I never realised FFX-2 was the series' first appearence on PS2 [see page 2, and yes, sarcasm].  I'm still really looking forward to this, despite some design decisions (emphasis on combat speed rather than strategy) I don't necessarily agree with.

The story is what I'm interested to see and from what I saw in the trailers...it looks pretty bad

"The story is what I'm interested in and from what I saw in the trailers...it looks pretty bad "

So fast paced combat that requires quick thinking and always being on your toes, similar to what FFX-2 offered? This sounds too good to be true for me, I really liked the pacing of X-2 battles and while I equally loved the slow and thought out ways FFXII went I will be happy to return to super fast combat.

Great stuff!  Thanks.

I'll try to post my own review in the coming days as I finish the game up, but just my take on the battle system...
 
The battles are intense because the ATB is unrelenting and the Optima Change is basically an instant party job class swap. It makes sense when you're playing because of how valuable Chain Breaks are. I do not consider this a bad thing--in fact, I find the battles system to be one of the strong points of FFXIII.  
 
If you like turn-based or the ability to pause the ATB (ala Dragon Age), it may not be the game for you. You can slow the ATB down in the config, though I haven't because I actually enjoy the fast decision making involved in the combat.

w00t

I thought this was a very accurate review. He could have touched a little more on the story and characters themselves, but I agree with pretty much everything in that review.  
 
To those worried about the combat system; it sounds sounds suspicious in theory, but this is one of those things you just have to try for yourself. The flow and pacing of the combat is so expertly handled that it's a joy to play every single battle.  
 
I also thought the story was told in a very good way, with the pacing and bit-by-bit revelations really sucking you in. As someone far from fluent in Japanese, however, I missed out on a lot of story elements, so I'll be waiting for the English version before judging the story itself (but the structure I can comment on). 

I like their condescending pie charts. Those are the best kind of pie charts.

Meh, this is far from my favorite one.    
 
Beat it in about 40 hours, and almost nearing the final few trophies.  Final boss is a joke, and once you find out how to get Lucky Breaker the battle system is a joke.  You can't lose, like seriously...once you break the battle system it's a joke.  It's easy to break it too once you beat the boss in Chapter 11 and get Vanila's Limit Break (Death)...so go back to Grand Pulse and nuke all the giant turtles with Death.  Get the CPx2 accessory, and the Best Choice/Good Choice accessories and watch your loot go up. 
  
Also once you realize Jammers/Enchanters are the most powerful jobs, you can't lose major battles...and can beat them well under the time limits.  I beat some of the hardest missions in less than a minute with this, as do most Japanese gamers and the people who imported on other forums. 
 
It's not a bad game, and the story is crap until Agito/Versus ties in...and it's already shown in FF13 that they are totally connected.  Can't spoil.  v.v 
 
No way is this an "A" grade, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Persona 4, White Knight, and a couple others are far better RPGs in the time between FF12 and FF13.  

While I dont agree that the story is "crap", I dont really think its that good either. And the relations the characters create between each other are pretty cool and done better than in most oher JRPS. 
 
KaosAngel: How is it obvious that it binds together with AGito/Versus? I didnt notice anything in particular tbh.. But then again, I know almost nothing about those two games so might just be my lack of knowledge. 
 
Also I woudnt recommend White Knight Story. That game is not bad either, but I wouldnt say its better than FF13. 
 
Anyway, ff13, solid 7-8/10. Alot of dissapointment, some cool stuff. Roll on something else.

" While I dont agree that the story is "crap", I dont really think its that good either. And the relations the characters create between each other are pretty cool and done better than in most oher JRPS.  KaosAngel: How is it obvious that it binds together with AGito/Versus? I didnt notice anything in particular tbh.. But then again, I know almost nothing about those two games so might just be my lack of knowledge.  Also I woudnt recommend White Knight Story. That game is not bad either, but I wouldnt say its better than FF13.  Anyway, ff13, solid 7-8/10. Alot of dissapointment, some cool stuff. Roll on something else. "