Think of it like a combination of the fundamentals of the original PSO, with versions of the PSU ideas that actually work and are fun. (PSU was an abomination. I mean... it had SOME redeeming qualities, but MAN.)
The combat is still timing based if you want to deal extra damage, or you can just hold the button down if you're lazy and don't mind dealing less damage. You can chain attacks for an unlimited amount of time, but to get the most out of this you have to combine your regular attacks with your Photon Arts. For melee characters at least, you get some PP back every time you land a normal attack in sequence, more if it's properly timed, so you want to hit until you get enough PP to perform an ability, then use the correct ability. (You've got ability 1, 2 and 3, and depending on where you are in your 1, 2, 3 combo of attacks (Regular or photon arts, they're both on the same "combo") you'll perform a different ability.)
Mags are back. Feedin' 'em is still fun! They evolve and all that good stuff. Your first is free from a quest, but after that you'd have to use Arks Cash to get more, or trade others for them I suppose. At least that's what I've heard.
Anyway, the zones you go to (At least the first two.) are the same types of zones as PSO 1, a forest followed by caves. But they're not really at all similar to the originals. These are brand new from top to bottom in both design and partially aesthetic. The actual areas you go to are randomly generated (Which is good.) and don't feel like it. (Which is better.) The mission structure is a little weird at first if you don't speak Japanese (And I don't!) because it's not just "Beat forest, go to caves," it's "Do several different missions in forest, unlock caves," which I think may have been what the PSO single-player is like if I remember correctly.
Long story short, it's very good, reminiscent of PSO, while feeling much more modern, and while it has some similarities to PSU, they're just the ideas of things that could've been good in PSU had they been executed properly.
It's a damn good game, I think.
I show off a little bit of the combat here:
(Mute it if you don't want to hear my abominable voice!)
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