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The only article I've read that slightly changed my opinion of the project is one in Edge magazine from a year ago. When asked whether the the technology of the next generation console should be used to expand more gameplay mechanics or just visual and audio upgrades; the director of XIII (Motomu Toriyama) said that the visuals are so realistic now that the player should be able to draw more on the characters. Its a fair assessment but its not a path I feel they should do.
Interestingly enough, the article had an interview with Tetsuya Nomura and when asked the same question, he said the new generation should be used to create better game design and mechanics and not just be visual updates. He illustrates by saying that for Versus XIII he's trying to implement a way to have seamless enviroments. He suggests having a battle waging inside and outside a building and the transition being seamless or the abilty to do something in the building that could effect the outside. To me, Nomura has the right idea and it feels more like traditional concepts that made the FF series stand out (Innovation)
Granted, we don't know enough about either game to see how their thoughts on the matter has materialized but XIII sounds more like cosmetic change like IX and X were rather than something innovative like VIII and XII were.
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I have faith that Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII Versus will be popular titles.
I think that the company and its development teams pay special attention to certain titles in the series, and, unfortunately, the rest are not given that same degree of attention; for example, Dirge of Cerberus was not made with the top level development team on it, and its concept called for a less popular genre and gameplay style.
