To add the demo to your Xbox Live download queue now, click here. For anyone looking for a spoiler-free impression of what’s included in the Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo that just went live on Xbox Live, look no further.

The demo showcases a couple new characters that were not playable in the original title. It also tells you right away that it takes place in Chapter 2 of what appears to be the main campaign. If you’re looking to get a fresh experience going into FFXIII-2 at the end of this month, you may want to skip this demo.

What’s shown is the updated fighting system, some of the new core features of the game, and interactive tutorials on how these new aspects fit into what you know from FFXIII. One thing I definitely was dreading was the return of random battles. What I’ve found through this demo is that they’re definitely in the game but mostly still avoidable. When you get “attacked”, a dome of sorts appears over your party and if you can run fast enough to get your dome free of enemies, you’ve successfully avoided that battle.

Another aspect of the game I saw at E3 last year and was not too pleased about is the addition of QTE (Quick-Time Events) to the battles. It appears now that these only occur during ‘epic’ fights (think boss fights) and are actually somewhat fun. I could still do without them, but at least now I see the point of them in FFXIII-2. If you succeed at all your QTEs, you can stagger your opponent which gives you a huge advantage for a brief time.

There is actually a lot more to the demo than what I’ve described, but most of it is not spoiler-free so you’ll have to check it out for yourself. I will say that this demo pushed me off the fence into the believer camp, and I can easily say it’s a game I’m completely excited to play at the end of this month.