So it's on shelves today.

[Yar]

How's the battle theme? Did they do it right, or does it sound better/worse?

Battle themes are for the most part unchanged. They sound a bit different, but they're still great. The music sounds more orchestral (not a whole lot though) than just some midi beats.

EDIT: Has anyone yet noticed that battles can be dealt with with one hand? L acts as A and you just use the D-Pad. Unless of course you want to cancel an action, then you have to use B.

EDIT ver2.0: Apparently this also works outside of battles. It doesn't seem to work in menus though, L and R are reserved for switching between characters.

EDIT ver2.1: I remember Dragon Quest VIII using this method as well. I hope we continue to see it in further installments to the series.