I loved the battle system myself. It's a very nice and refreshing change from the ATB and turn based systems of previous games. Some people may say they prefer the older systems, but after so many games (both Final Fantasy and other RPG's) using them, I'm pretty sick of them. I didn't find this game too hard to get used to either. I'm sure the actual game will ease you into it a little more in the beginning as they do in all FF's, but I found it pretty easy to pick up. The only thing I would have liked a little more is if they used the right stick for menu selection during battle so you wouldn't have to just stand there. I can always just use wait mode to avoid leaving myself open though.