I've been fiddling around with Rachel for the better part of an hour and she doesn't seem all that powered down in Continuum Shift to me. The biggest difference I've noticed is how her Sword Iris trigger is now a quarter circle instead of a command move, but if anything it just makes it easier to pull off in the heat of things. The pumpkin now stays on the screen when you Silpheed it meaning I've been able to smack it back and forth across a character up to 3 times while also whacking them with up close combos. Chip damage at it's best.
George XIIIth no longer hops and seems to slowly waddle towards an opponent, but I've had no trouble still finding uses for it. It helps to chain someone into it's range and let it do it's work. It also has a brief timer before being able to use him again, but honestly it's like a second or two, nothing major.
Terrible prose, yet lovably awesome nonetheless.
I think I'll try Taokaka and Jin out next to see what's different.