I think Vivi22 is right. SE needs some new guys to step up and become new Sakaguchis and Nomuras. My only worry though is that they may leave behind Sakaguchi's original vision, which I believe is still important. The general ethos of Final Fantasy is hard to define, but I will be able to feel when it is being lost. My worry is that the FF series will become all flash and no bang. SE won't fail to make brilliant cutscenes, but will they be able to create characters which connect with us and make us actually care about the plot? Will they have a coherent story? My biggest worry is definitely with the characters and the plot.

Music is another case where someone needs to step up and fill Uematsu's huge boots. No easy task, but Hamauzu has a fair shot. Ishimoto seems pretty good so far(but not amazing to me) and what I've heard of Shimomura in her Versus track is very impressive (but I didn't like her KH stuff so much).

I'm also worried the series may see to far a departure from its fantasy roots. The series is Final Fantasy, and while I enjoy sci-fi, I want them to continue producing fantasy games in the more traditional sense as well. I'm not talking about cliches necessarily, but the sort of stuff in FFIX, FFX and FFXII.

Finally I will make my final point about Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy series will die when it loses originality. So long as Final Fantasy continues to push the boundaries of gaming in terms of new, fresh gameplay systems and imaginitive, cogent and powerful stories it has every right to continue for a long time to come. FFXIII and FFvXIII could very well be the defining games that decide the fate of the Final Fantasy series and finally confirm or counter the claim that SE have lost their vision.