it ended.
still no release date, only "available later this year".
The presentation last about an hour, they showed different savegame they had at different point in the story.
It focused on exploration, lots of battle's system explanation (exactly like the Wii's game), missions and mech battle/customization.
Actually, the battle mechanics aren't quite the same. The chain attack gauge has been replaced by a Soul Stage gauge, which, when it triggers, makes a B prompt pop up, allowing you to deal more damage if you hit if correctly. The more bars filled, the more prompts will appear, and I've noticed it can go really crazy at times, the prompt showed up about 4 times in 10 seconds at one point.
There's also a system of double cooldown for the arts, where, if you let them charge more after the cooldown is over, they will deal more damage, and I assume have a higher chance of inflicting a status.
Other than that, yeah, it's essentially the same, but with 4 party members instead of 3. Haven't noticed a tension level but I might have not been looking in the right place. There's also some kind of overdrive but I didn't fully understand everything about it. Something about a green bar filling up during battle, and when you decide to use it, art cooldown gets shorter, I believe ?
Anyway, really excited for the game, can't wait for it to come out !
Edit: When I think about it, maybe Soul Stage is related to the tension.