Since FF8 Square having been chasing a dream, that dream is to reach the sales success of FF7, with about 10mil units sold. and imo FF7 must be higher than we think because here in the UK, it was nigh on impossible to get a new copy after a while. i alone lent my copy to 2 friends. and i got that 2nd hand.

and since Sakaguchi has left Kitase is the head of production team 1, and for some reason he and production team 1 seem to think the way to reach that success is to draw from influences like FPS and creating something that isnt an RPG:

Oh and heres an interview with Yoshinori Kitase: http://www.gamegrep.com/previews/30446-final_fantasy_xiii_not_an_rpg_says_producer_new_1up_exclusive_screens/

he talks about why FF13 is NOT an RPG, and about how series is becoming more like an interactive movie. Toriyama discusses how FF13 is more like an FPS than an RPG and some of the methods he used to make it like that. but i dont think this is what western gamers WANT.

Wada allowed this because hes not a game designer, hes a buisness man, which is why he chose to make FF13 multiplatform. either way i dont think they'll ever be another FF like 13, and i have no idea who will be doing the next one. theres been no information from the FF12 in years, so its possible they could be working on FF15 or another Ivalice based game.

XIII is actually one of the easiest in the series.

No, it's not. I'm sorry, but that's just false. XIII is hands down the hardest modern FF.

"Wada allowed this because hes not a game designer, hes a buisness man, which is why he chose to make FF13 multiplatform. either way i dont think they'll ever be another FF like 13, and i have no idea who will be doing the next one. theres been no information from the FF12 in years, so its possible they could be working on FF15 or another Ivalice based game."

We can hope, but I really doubt we're going to see any more of Ivalice. Are any members of the IX team still floating around? Who within SE can possibly form a counterweight to the Kitase's band of incompetent drivel-peddlers?

Sadly i think it will be Kitase's team who will do FF15. and i think there is something called Fortres that is rumoured to be in development and will take place in the world of Ivalice. i think because of FF13, Wada might try to collaborate with Sakaguchi's studio for the next game. its possible that because of FFversus, that Nomura will head up the other production team. however this seems illogical because his games are made with Kitase. excluding Versus obviously.

well theres still been no word from the FF12 team, they could be working on something, even if its not a FF title. there is maybe 2 or 3 people and one team, the FF tactics team i believe could counter balance Kiatse's teams. and i know people think that perhaps i'm too hard on his team, lets not forget the FF7 compliation or 10-2.

i actully agree that FF13 is a hard game to an extent, because you cant proceed through the game without training your team. you have to level up a lot to get through the next area. but imo i think FF12 was about the same in difficultly, and that a problem both games have in terms of accessibility - its not easy to get new gamers into.

meh..I liked FFXII more than FFXIII. but I do think FFXIII deserves the sales it gotten but, it feels that it was somewhat a given since FFXIII was on two consoles compared to FFXII.

I thought FFXIII was a good game, but the only thing that really stood out was the battle system(which was the best of the FF series) the whole linearity of the game just made it feels off, i know you get to wonder around after chp 11, but after "following the yellow brick road" through 10 chapters didn't make it feel so grand, then only to go back to the same thing for chapters 12&13. along with the absence of town just didn't give it the "final fantasy" feel.

but I do agree with others here that it is the best RPG this gen...so far...I'm really putting my hopes on FFXIIIversus, that new PS3 tales game,(if it comes out here) KH3,(if that comes out this gen) At tonelico III, WKC2, and possibly Persona 5,

I have played every main  FF game and every FF spin-off and FFXIII is a odd game in that all the boss battles are very easy complained to all other FF games I found the ordinary battles were made more difficult then in any other FF game.   

None of the bosses in the game were even remotely hard. At least in the other FF games I died on occassion.

I dislike both... either direction, I guess for me it's "fuck the series". 
Well, actually I dislike XII and Hate XIII. Atleast I finished XII.

You overleveled or you have gotten better at playing RPGs since you started playing FF. That's all there is to it.

XIII is the only modern FF where you can't win solely on the back of spamming attack. That alone is enough to qualify it as the hardest of the lot.

I really don't see why people can find this the hardest FF game to beat. It is ridiculously easy knowing when to execute commands just by switching through paradigm shifts. To me it is the easiest and weirdest. The Xbox360 version in Japan will have an easy mode too lol