^^ I actually enjoyed FFX a decent bit, but yeah, a lot of the story and voice acting were crap. I at least like to think that the original Japanese wasn't as horribly awkward.
Anyway, I agree completely on all of the points. The "do not pad your game" point is something I've always hated, and it's why I can't bring myself to like most open-world games. (Well, aside from Oblivion, which has that fast-travel option.)
"'Casual games' are something the 'Game Industry' invented to explain away the Wii success instead of actually listening or looking at what Nintendo did. There is no 'casual strategy' from Nintendo. 'Accessible strategy', yes, but ‘casual gamers’ is just the 'Game Industry''s polite way of saying what they feel: 'retarded gamers'."
-Sean Malstrom
