Noel probably isn't going to end up dead, though you'll probably be able to beat him up to your hearts content at the very least. Considering he is a main character of the series, it seems unlikely he'll end up dead. Though maybe there will be multiple endings and he'll end up dead in the bad ending.

But yeah, there are a lot of costumes. I'm guessing there will probably be something for everyone. There are certainly some I think are just silly, but others look pretty cool. Lightning's default is actually growing on me, despite my initial impression of being rather unimpressed by it.

It's accurate to Cloud though, not much you can do about his design.