This is a sort of “stream-of-consciousness” brief page-through of the Pathfinder Beta release from Paizo.
Races
* All of the races get a net +2 bonus to ability scores, possibly to bring them up to par with what were perceived to be “too powerful” ECL 0 races. Most races also get a few free weapon proficiencies (dwarves get warhammers and battleaxes, elves get longswords and bows, half-orcs get greataxes and flachions) and Weapon Familiarity (treating weapons with their race in the name as Martial weapons).
* Half-orcs get a neat bonus called “Orc Ferocity”, which lets them fight on for a round after being dropped below 0 HP if the attack doesn’t kill them outright. Not super-powerful, but considering that orcs can choose Druid as a favored class and now get a bonus to wisdom, a healer-orc could actually become even more resilient.
* I like favored class now. You get a bonus hit point or bonus skill point at each level that you take in your favored class, and each race can choose from at least two classes as their favored class. Very, very cool.
Classes
* The GM can choose between one of three XP charts, so characters can level slowly, medium, or quickly. A good choice.
* Most of the classes are being tweaked so that they offer options at most (if not all) levels, so it’s always worth leveling up in a core class (if not required). Barbarians can get different rage powers, cleric domain powers are spread out across 20 levels, fighters becomes downright scary with their favorite weapon group and armor (Gaining +4 to hit and damage by level 20, an increased critical multiplier, +4 to AC from armor, +4 to the armor’s maximum dexterity modifier, and DR 5/-), monks gain a Ki pool that lets them throw around scary numbers of attacks, paladins can either get a mount or an enhanced favored weapon, rangers get favored enemies and favored terrain, rogues are still trapfinders (blech) but they get special rogue talents every even level which are incredibly neat, sorcerers get bloodline feats and bonus spells with a nice selection of bloodlines, and the wizard continuously gets powers associated with his school of choice (for specialists).
* Oh, and no more d4 HD. Nice.
Skills
* Closer to the 3.Xe version of skills than 4e.
* Not a very condensed skill list, though Hide and Move Silently are Stealth, and Spot and Listen became Perception.
* Half-ranks into untrained skills are a thing of the past. All skills are now one-for-one, and you always get X + Intelligence Modifier skill points each level, even at first. However, if you invest in your class skills, you get a +3 bonus to those skills.
Feats
* Characters get a feat at every odd level.
* Lots of feats printed in this chapter, more than the PHB in 3e and 4e. Too many for me to go over 
Equipment
* Largely unchanged from 3e.
Alignment
* Largely unchanged from 3e.
Combat
* Swift and immediate actions are in.
* Characters die at a negative hit point total equal to their Constitution score (-10 if your CON is 9 or less).
* Turning undead becomes Channeling Positive Energy, which damages undead, forces them to flee, and heals allies a fair chunk. I really like this. Negative energy does just the opposite.
* All combat maneuvers are resolved using the same statistic: you Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB). This is helpful in simplifying things, but the maneuvers themselves are still relatively similar to they were in 3e.
Magic
* Still Vancean, as expected. Still, bleh.
* Domains have changed for the better. Rather than granting extra spells, you get a few cool powers (some of which are spell-like abilities). Thumbs up here.
* I’m… actually happy with the polymorph changes. Polymorph-esque spells (including the beast shape series, the basis for the druid’s wildshape) now grant you a small, set number of bonuses based on whether you become a smaller or larger animal, as well as the animal’s mode of movement and other specifically-listed modes of attack. Excellent change.
DM Advice
* Nice to see this in the core book.
* They offer advice and options for both high-fantasy and low-fantasy in terms of magic items, which is nice.
* Improvements in quick NPC construction (such as pregenerated NPC ability score bundles for different types of NPCs independent of class), but still not where I’d want them to be.
Magic Items
* Much more like 3e, which means magic item Christmas trees. While Pathfinder does note how you can reduce the reliance on magic items. I’m not surprised here, but not impressed either.
Glossary
* This gets special attention. Best glossary ever. Many pages, great definitions, lots of densely-packed, useful information (such as “When Spell Resistance Applies” and differentiating all the Charms and Compulsions). Two thumbs up.
Final Thoughts
I would’ve liked to see the game have some more elements I liked from 4e, but I didn’t expect them either. It’s very much a 3.Xe game tweaked in a few places (often much-needed places), but most of those changes are on the character class and race end of things. Overall, an improvement over 3.5 in my mind. It preserves a lot of what people loved about 3.X, makes it better in others, and does a nice job of encouraging players to stick to a core class without forcing them to.
Philosophically, Paizo gets huge thumbs-up for this. A massive, open playtest with ideas being culled from the best of the best on Paizo’s forums. Lots of constant feedback. Open. Regardless of what you think about the game itself, this alone deserves respect.
So what’s my verdict? I’d play it and probably have a great time with it, same as I would with 4e. I’m looking forward to the finished product. Paizo is doing a good job with it.
PS: The art in this book is so anime
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