From what I've seen so far, the characters are still essentially the same. From what I've seen, the game isn't actually faster, it's just that hitstun/blockstun and combos are shorter. The overall flow of the game hasn't changed.
Livewire: You're right in that I probably can't appreciate some of the changes of those characters, but I'm talking more about the game itself rather than the individual characters.
IMO, the radical changes in AC+R produced a much more fun and hype game. CP's changes were a little too minimal to have a big impact on the game.
...Then again, what do I know? I haven't even played +R or CP