Well it does sound like they are really focusing on the story aspect, but I really hate the idea of phoenix mode, whereas I liked casual mode because it made sense, and it at least gave some small purpose to their mission for casuals. Unfortunately, it's also kind of hard to tell the difference between IF being a game or a visual novel. Although, phoenix mode itself is not what bothers me, but its implications. I highly doubt Nohr is going to be unbeatable or brutally 'hard.' I am more concerned that it will be a fake difficulty where beating it depends solely on luck like Lunatic +, and that was a real pain to finish.
Also going to miss the durability on weapons, because even though it did have its draw backs, it made you more aware of what you were doing. Now, it is just picking which of the 2-4 weapons in my items slot will be the most helpful. I am also going to really miss the world map. Sacred Stones and Awakening made it seem a little more real, or at least, like we had a choice.
So, here is hoping for the best and that my worries are misplaced. It just seems like when games developers focus on adding casual players, it rarely helps veterans.