[Review] Final Fantasy XIII-2

I finished Final Fantasy XIII-2 a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to let my thoughts percolate rather than make a knee-jerk review. I think I've reached the point where my opinion isn't going to change, and I have a solid grasp of why I feel certain ways about certain aspects. So, here's my review. All spoilers will be written after the second cut. There will be spoiler-space in-between the cuts if you're reading the first section.

Graphics: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Battle System: 8/10
Story: 8/10
World Building: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

( Spoiler-free breakdown )

( Spoiler-filled discussion of squee! and issues )

TL,DR; Very fun, with lots of replay-value. Significantly improved from its predecessor.

Wow, quite a wall of text, huh? And guess what?! I'm not done yet!! :D

But I will leave it there for now. Next time: game as fanfic, Chrono Trigger, Snow/Serah, Lightning's knowledge of the future, "hope", Noel's inexperience, Etro's successor, Yeul's connection to Caius, historia crux shape, fanworks