I really liked it: great music, epic-looking FMVs, good graphics, some daft moments, some nice towns, the hand-holding isn't anywhere near as bad as XIII, nice weather changes, characters can now be switched in battle again. Noel and Serah are much likeable than the stoic Lightning, overall the game-play has good variety with the non-linear structure, mini-games and monster customisation.
The less good: some of the side-quests get a bit boring because of recycled assets being cheaply used with NPCs and environments, the story is very contrived even for fantasy, the re-spawning baddies make the later levels a bit boring with tight path ways that must be moved, and the beginning is a bit boring with running in circles in a town, I won't bother defending some of the character's design.
Neutral: The crystarium is more streamlined, although there's far more grids to level-up this time. The ending is hilarious and might as well be trolling.
Overall I recommend it, the strengths make it worth it even if you didn't like XIII.
