So far I think Tabata is doing a fantastic job on damage control in this Q&A. He's addressing various question head on and not evading anything. He really has cleared up a lot of concerns for better or for worse.
- He says that the E3 gameplay battle footage was playable, but an earlier version. I believe he said you can still play the game on that level, but it was showing off more advanced moves and so on. I think he said it was a prototype concept that they are working towards in development.
- With regards to the "hold button for awesome" comments, he says that the defensive stance drains MP, so you can't just hold the button forever and be invincible. There are also more technical aspects of evasion which are more advanced. For attacking, you hold the button for basic combos, but there are also advanced action aspects with regards to timing and attacking in certain directions, or influenced by equipment.
- He confirms you can jump in the game. The battle system in FFXV is Active Cross Battle (AXB), and Noctis is the only playable character. You control Noctis because the entire battle system is built around him and how the other party members interact with him.
- He also talks about the the weapon switching too. Instead of active weapon switching during combat, it uses player settings prepared in advance. This is likely part of the gambit-like system he talked about before. The weapon used is automatic based on the conditions, but it sounds like the player has control over how those conditions are determined.
The new video was pretty good too. The game is still pretty far away, but I think he's making serious efforts to address concerns and get people excited for the game. It's really good PR compared to the normal stuff from S-E.