Judging by the way the FF13 series graphically degraded the more open the gameplay got, I wonder how Versus looks today. It also uses the Crystal Tools engine, doesn't it? If the FF13 team isn't just incapable, the engine doesn't seem to be build for games that don't follow a tube design. The way Lightning Returns looks is quite telling -- and I don't think that the early development stage is an excuse in this case. It's the third game they are building with the same engine, they are probably re-using a lot of assets and code. They shouldn't need to start from zero again.
To be honest, I just don't get this game. What are they thinking? Why are they doing this? If Lightning Returns is just a quick cash-in, why don't they just develop another game in the veins of FF13-2 and call it a day? The approach for Lightning Returns is definitely more ambitious even if it's just Assassin's Creed meets a little bit of Majora's Mask, but why do they feel the need for this when they don't have the ressources, the talent, the tech to do the concept justice?
Also, why is the FF13 series all over the frigging place? Since FF13 the gameplay made a 180 degree turn. I'd welcome this, considering I belong to the people who didn't care much for FF13, but who are they developing this game for? They've already lost the people who disliked FF13. It makes no sense to go after those, since they probbaly won't pick up this game even if it should turn out to be good. And the people who actually liked FF13 get something that doesn't have much in common with the game they liked. It's mind-boggling.
Ever since Majora's Mask im a sucker for games with a vivid one-city environment and as such I find the concept behind Lightning Returns pretty cool. It's just too bad that it's hidden behind the facade of the awful lore, story and characters of FF13... Well, and that just judging by the trailers and the output of the creative minds behind it, it probably won't be a very good game either way.