I'll make a short compilation from online reports later on if you want; people freak out when they get talked to.

My personal impression, it feels different from any of the previous KOFs. The game speed, hit delay, and character's size ratio to the whole screen makes it feel a bit to me like, say, somewhere in between Real Bout 2 and KOF98. You'll still be seeing a lot of jumps, but they can be punished from reaction. It feels like a step back into the old days, and at the same time, a step forward into the next decade with the new systems. Which is probably why I'm liking the game thus far.

The combos that worked in previous games still generally work, but there's a lot more to learn thanks to the drive meter. Though, I have a feeling that in the end, people might conclude that long combos scales away too much damage and drain meters ineffectively. Still, it's an additional freedom and option of strategy that's been added to the game.

Some of the Neomaxes comes out so fast that you can hit it right after a guard, and that takes away a nice chunk of life because there's no scaling. The way some of the Neomaxes can punish you after a careless move feels almost like the Revenge Attacks from vanilla SF4. Though of course it's justified in XIII when keeping in mind the required meters. And again, you have to think about whether it's worthwhile to burst out all that meter, or to hold on it for the later rounds. Strategy, strategy.

Of course, if there's any abusive bugs or moves, that spoils all the efforts that's been put into the game system. Hopefully that won't be much of the case.

I have to firmly disagree, although the graphics have been revamped and the Supers have been somewhat exaggerated. KOF is still KOF. It fits nicely between SF and Guilty Gear. You can't blindly mash a continuous combo in KOF, even in XIII. The play style is simply different. Don't let the new hit effects cloud your judgement. Even with HyperDrive Mode which is similar to 02's Max Mode, you can only cancel special moves. Which requires excellent timing and command rotation. It is clearly different from GG or BB where you can make continuous hits just by linking normal punchs and kicks. Now, i'm not saying GG/BB couldn't do the same. It's just that  the game focuses more on other gameplay mechanics.

Here's a new vid, Mitsuhiro Ichiki (Yuzuko) playing against 3 KOF XIII Development Staff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juhy_pz5rT8

This is one of the best match videos so far.. he really put an effort fighting those staff who already memory combo connections like the back of their hand.

dude, chill. that's why i said it LOOKS like blazblue, not plays like it. and after i posted that one i take a peek at blazblue finisher compilation video and they are WAAAAY exaggerated. it looks truly awesome though.

Yeah, seriously the plot about Ash caught me unknowingly too. I didn't expect he was going to defy destiny. In that sense, he has a similarity to Iori Yagami.

From what i know, SNKP hired several novelists to do KOF XIII character dialogs (Pre-Fight Dialogs). But i'm not sure wether they did help crafting story plot.

About Kyo & Iori suddenly fighting right after Ash's dissappearance...

Yeah, seriously the plot about Ash caught me unknowingly too. I didn't expect he was going to defy destiny. In that sense, he has a similarity to Iori Yagami.

From what i know, SNKP hired several novelists to do KOF XIII character dialogs (Pre-Fight Dialogs). But i'm not sure wether they did help crafting story plot.

About Kyo & Iori suddenly fighting right after Ash's dissappearance...