I'm not normally one to jump on bash-the-game bandwagons, but my own personal impression of Dawn of the New World is that it was made by a bunch of bored, depressed people who couldn't be enthused about anything they made. Except for the voice actors. Some of them.
Seriously, just look at some of the mystic artes. So unenthusiastic. So much blank space. So little oomph. Also, Genis' Mystic Arte was changed from Indignation Judgment to simply Indignation. Except... he still has Indignation as a regular spell.
The plot is definitely interesting as a concept, though. The execution of said concept is... well, I'll leave that up to you to discover.
It just felt like a game that the makers were practically forced to make for the sake of a sequel, rather than feeling inspired to make it.