FF XII *is* nothing like FF IX, that's for sure. The cute character design was the FF IX feature I liked best, and I loved the Kingdom Hearts games just because they combined Disney and FF, so the return to 'realistic' looking characters is the biggest turn-off for me so far.
The combat system: I'm not too happy with the chaotic Tomb Raider-style camera, but if you go phased it doesn't matter if you actually see anything or not - you can easily direct battles/follow what's going via the menus. The RTS-ish target lines can be switched off, though I don't mind them (they tend blend into the visual combat chaos quite naturally, anyway).