Phew, thank goodness. Tri-Ace games usually offer a really decent story even since their old days as Wolfteam, so I was really disturbed by the rumours.
Amano's works for FF are really charming, though in many cases I have a weird impression that he and the developers were hardly in touch. His designs for FF5 are completely different from what the characters look like in-game. that completely changes the impression: Amano's Galuf makes an odd semblance to Snake from the upcoming (!) MGS, and Faris who was just adorably tomboyish in the game, appears like someone whose gender I could REALLY mix up at first glance.
I also must admit that I don't like some of his FF6 designs, though others are among my favourites. He handles in-game female portraits especially well - I love the visualisation of Maria, Rydia, Terra, Relm and Garnet.
I haven't seen Chrono Cross, but its predecessor, Chrono Trigger, used an incarnation of the very ATB system that FF introduced and trademarked. Even though first 3 installments didn't have it, the first time I tried FF4, this ATB thing seemed so natural to me, it's hard to imagine FF without it now.
Of course, I heard that FF13 ATB will make use of some chain attacks differing from past experiences, and I don't know yet how to treat that... As if it wasn't enough with Tales of Graces combat turned into a Guilty Gear wannabe (what's all this fashion about combos nowadays?). Then again, looks like we'll have a lot of summons, as plot-crucial as in FF6 and FF9, and some decent development system. Oh, and the bad thing: a party of THREE (here I'm still shaking my fist at FF7 for this, and SE goes at it once again!!!).
Well, judging from thr price of the console and emulation prospects (PS2 is practically a retro by now, and people still have hard time emulating IT), I won't be able to check it out soon. Might as well stick to DS side titles for the time being.